The Foo Fighters
Late in the Second World War, Allied pilots reported glowing balls that flew beside their planes and kept pace.
What was reported
From late 1944, crews of the US 415th Night Fighter Squadron and others flying over Germany reported small balls of light, red, orange or white, that followed their aircraft, matched their turns and then vanished. Pilots nicknamed them foo fighters, after a comic strip.
Similar lights were reported over the Pacific. Both sides seem to have suspected the other of a secret weapon.
Explanations offered
No German or Japanese weapon matching the descriptions was found after the war. Suggested explanations include St Elmo's fire on the aircraft, ball lightning, reflections, flares and the strain of night combat. A 1953 US government panel reviewed the reports and did not find them a threat.
- When
- Late 1944 into 1945
- Where
- Over the Rhine valley and western Europe
- Witnesses
- Allied bomber and night-fighter crews
- Status
- Unidentified
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.