UFO FYI- Life During Wartime: UFOs and WWII

The "Battle of Los Angeles," 1942

(From WIKIPEDIA) The Battle of Los Angeles is the name given by contemporary news agencies to a sighting of one or more unidentified flying objects which took place from late February 24 to early February 25, 1942 in which eyewitness reports of an unknown object or objects over Los Angeles, California, triggered a massive anti-aircraft artillery barrage. The Los Angeles incident occurred less than three months after America's entry into World War II as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Initially the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but it was later suggested to be imaginary and a case of "war nerves", a lost weather balloon, a blimp, a Japanese fire balloon or psychological warfare technique, staged for the benefit of coastal industrial sites, or even an extraterrestrial craft. The true nature of the object or objects allegedly remains "unknown".

Prior to the incident in Los Angeles, the Ellwood shelling, in which the Japanese submarine I-17 surfaced and fired on an oil production facility near Santa Barbara, had occurred on February 23, 1942. Reports indicated that afterwards the submarine was heading south, the general direction of Los Angeles.

Unidentified objects were reported over Los Angeles during the night of February 24 and the early morning hours of February 25, 1942. Air raid sirens were sounded throughout Los Angeles County at 2:25 a.m. and a total blackout was ordered. Thousands of air raid wardens were summoned to their positions.

At 3:16 a.m. on February 25, the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing 12.8-pound anti-aircraft shells into the air at the object(s); over 1400 shells would eventually be fired [1]. Pilots of the 4th Interceptor Command were alerted but their aircraft remained grounded. The artillery fire continued sporadically until 4:14 a.m. The objects were said to have taken about 20 minutes to have moved from over Santa Monica to above Long Beach. The "all clear" was sounded and the blackout order lifted at 7:21 a.m.

In addition to several buildings damaged by friendly fire, three civilians were killed by the anti-aircraft fire, and another three died of heart attacks attributed to the stress of the hour-long bombardment.

The incident was front-page news along the U.S. Pacific coast, and earned some mass media coverage throughout the nation. One Los Angeles Herald Express writer[2] who observed some of the incident insisted that several anti-aircraft shells had struck one of the objects, and he was stunned that the object had not been downed. Reporter Bill Henry of the Los Angeles Times wrote [1], "I was far enough away to see an object without being able to identify it ... I would be willing to bet what shekels I have that there were a number of direct hits scored on the object."

Editor Peter Jenkins of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner reported, "I could clearly see the V formation of about 25 silvery planes overhead moving slowly across the sky toward Long Beach." Long Beach Police Chief J.H. McClelland said[1] "I watched what was described as the second wave of planes from atop the seven-story Long Beach City Hall. I did not see any planes but the younger men with me said they could. An experienced Navy observer with powerful Carl Zeiss binoculars said he counted nine planes in the cone of the searchlight. He said they were silver in color. The group passed along from one battery of searchlights to another, and under fire from the anti-aircraft guns, flew from the direction of Redondo Beach and Inglewood on the land side of Fort MacArthur, and continued toward Santa Ana and Huntington Beach. Anti-aircraft fire was so heavy we could not hear the motors of the planes.

1942: Gen. Marshall's memo to Pres. Roosevelt

In 1974, due to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a memorandum regarding the incident was released. Written by General George C. Marshall for President Franklin Roosevelt, and dated February 26, 1942, Marshall wrote that the "Air Raid" incident was due to "unidentified airplanes, other than American Army or Navy planes [which] were probably sighted over Los Angeles [and moved from] 'very slow' to as much as 200 mph and from elevations of 9000 to 18,000 feet."

[9] Because the objects did not seem to be part of any attack, Marshall speculated that the craft might have been commercial airplanes used as a sort of psychological warfare campaign to generate panic. This very likely was the Chief of Staff report cited by Secretary of War Stimson in his press statement the same day.

1942: Questionable Marshall/Roosevelt memo of incident as UFO event

A top secret document of questioned authenticity (see Majestic 12), dated March 5, 1942, from Gen. Marshall to President Roosevelt, says that the Army had supposedly recovered an unconventional craft east of Los Angeles and Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson, chief of Naval intelligence, had also informed the War Department that the Navy had "...recovered an unidentified airplane off the coast of California... with no bearing on conventional explanation... This Headquarters has come to the determination that the mystery airplanes are in fact not earthly and according to secret intelligence sources they are in all probability of interplanetary origin." Marshall then ordered the formation of a special intelligence unit to investigate the phenomenon. This supposedly was the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU). [10][11] While the IPU seemingly did exist and investigated UFO reports in some capacity, according to the Air Force Directorate of Counterintelligence, it is unknown if it had any connection to the Los Angeles incident or even whether it existed in 1942.

For further reading, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles

Article by B J Booth,
About Dot Com:

Pearl Harbor Scare: As America was gathering its senses after the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, there was a heightened feeling of insecurity and anxiousness. The skies were being watched as never before as a giant UFO moved through California, alerting the military and civilian watchers as well. This case is known as the "Battle of Los Angeles," and is one of the most important cases in Ufology.

Surreal Sight: It would be early morning on February 2, 1942 when the incoming craft sirens were first heard in the Los Angeles area. Many Americans were expecting another wave of Japanese fighter planes, and thought this is what they would see as they left their homes, and ventured outside. How wrong they were! The first sightings of a large UFO would be made in Culver City, and Santa Monica.

A Total Blackout: Air Raid Wardens were ready to go at the first hint of an invasion. But, this invasion would be something other than Japanese planes. The giant hovering object was soon lit up by the gigantic spotlights of the Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade. Everyone who looked up was shocked by the sight of the giant UFO sitting above their city. Military aircraft were sent to confront the object.

UFO Takes Direct Hits: Because of a well-organized alert system, the whole California southern section was searching the night skies in a matter of minutes. What they saw were beaming searchlights illuminating the night sky, all of them converging on one thing-a UFO. A similar scene would be repeated later during the The Norwood Searchlight Incident albeit, on a smaller scale. The beams of light would soon be accompanied by tracer fire from anti-aircraft artillery, all of the rounds aiming at the invading craft. The giant UFO would take direct hit after hit, yet without damage.

Hanging Magic Lantern: The 37th Brigade was relentless in its attempt to bring down the large object, but found no success. The barrage of spent shells would fall over the entire area-no place was safe this night. Many were injured, and there were even reports of death from the falling shells. According to newspaper reports, eyewitnesses described the sight of the UFO like a "surreal, hanging, magic lantern."

Classic Photograph Taken: As the large UFO moved into more lighted areas, view of the object became better. It moved directly over the MGM studios in Culver City. Fortunately, an extremely good quality photograph was taken of the object-beams attached, tracer fire visible. This photograph has become a classic UFO photograph. The UFO would soon move over Long Beach before disappearing altogether.

Woman Air Raid Warden Gives Testimony: Woman Air Raid Warden Gives Testimony: "It was huge! It was just enormous! And it was practically right over my house. I had never seen anything like it in my life!" she said.

"It was just hovering there in the sky and hardly moving at all. It was a lovely pale orange and about the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. I could see it perfectly because it was very close. It was big!"

More Eyewitness Testimony: "They sent fighter planes up and I watched them in groups approach it and then turn away. There were shooting at it but it didn't seem to matter."

"It was like the Fourth of July but much louder. They were firing like crazy but they couldn't touch it."

"I'll never forget what a magnificent sight it was. Just marvelous. And what a gorgeous color!" she said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES, VISIT:
Darkchilde's Sanctuary on the Web
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/battle.html

(click newspaper clipping below to enlarge)

ARTICLE FROM TIME MAGAZINE
15 January 1945

If it was not a hoax or an optical illusion, it was certainly the most puzzling secret weapon that Allied fighters have yet encountered. Last week U.S. night fighter pilots based in France told a strange story of balls of fire which for more than a month have been following their planes at night over Germany.* No one seemed to know what, if anything, the fireballs were supposed to accomplish. Pilots, guessing that it was a new psychological weapon, named it the "foo-fighter."

Their descriptions of the apparition varied, but they agreed that the mysterious flares stuck close to their planes and appeared to follow them at high speed for miles. One pilot said that a foo-fighter, appearing as red balls off his wing tips, stuck with him until he dove at 360 miles an hour; then the balls zoomed up into the sky.

Skeptical scientists, baffled by the whole affair, were inclined to dismiss the fireballs as an illusion, perhaps an afterimage of light which remained in the pilots' eyes after they had been dazzled by flak bursts.

But front-line correspondents and armchair experts had a Buck Rogers field day. They solemnly guessed: 1) that the balls of fire were radio-controlled (an obvious absurdity, since they could not be synchronized with a plane's movements by remote control); 2) that they were created by "electrical induction of some sort"; 3) that they were attracted to a plane by magnetism.

The correspondents further guessed that foo-fighters were intended: 1) to dazzle pilots; 2) to serve as aiming points for antiaircraft gunners; 3) to interfere with a plane's radar; 4) to cut a plane's ignition, thus stop its engine in midair.

Some scientists suggested another possibility: that the fireballs were nothing more than St. Elmo's Fire, a reddish, brushlike discharge of atmospheric electricity which has often been seen near the tips of church steeples, ships' masts and yardarms. It often appears at a plane's wing tips.

ABOVE PICS COURTESY OF: http://ovi.org.free.fr

FOO FIGHTERS
ARTICLE FROM WIKIPEDIA

The first sightings occurred in November 1944, when pilots flying over Germany by night reported seeing fast-moving round glowing objects following their aircraft. The objects were variously described as fiery, and glowing red, white, or orange. Some pilots described them as resembling Christmas tree lights and reported that they seemed to toy with the aircraft, making wild turns before simply vanishing. Pilots and aircrew reported that the objects flew formation with their aircraft and behaved as if under intelligent control, but never displayed hostile behavior. However, they could not be outmaneuvered or shot down. The phenomenon was so widespread that the lights earned a name - in the European Theater of Operations they were often called "kraut fireballs" but for the most part called "foo-fighters".

The military took the sightings seriously, suspecting that the mysterious sightings might be secret German weapons, but further investigation revealed that German and Japanese pilots had reported similar sightings.[10] In its 15 January 1945 edition TIME magazine carried a story entitled "Foo-Fighter", in which it reported that the "balls of fire" had been following USAAF night fighters for over a month, and that the pilots had named it the "foo-fighter". According to TIME, descriptions of the phenomena varied, but the pilots agreed that the mysterious lights followed their aircraft closely at high speed. Some scientists at the time rationalized the sightings as an illusion probably caused by afterimages of dazzle caused by flak bursts, while others suggested St. Elmo's Fire as an explanation.[11] The "balls of fire" phenomenon reported from the Pacific Theater of Operations differed somewhat from the foo fighters reported from Europe; the "ball of fire" resembled a large burning sphere which "just hung in the sky", though it was reported to sometimes follow aircraft. On one occasion, the gunner of a B-29 aircraft managed to hit one with gunfire, causing it to break up into several large pieces which fell on buildings below and set them on fire. As with the European foo fighters, no aircraft was reported as having been attacked by a "ball of fire."

UFOs One Year at a Time: 1989

The Phobos II Incident, January 1989

On July 12, 1988 the USSR launched Phobos II, an unmanned satellite to Mars. It arrived in January 1989 and entered an orbit around Mars as the first phase towards its real destination, a small Martian moon called Phobos.

The mission was flawless until the craft aligned itself with the moon. On March 28, 1989 an elliptical object was detected moving towards the satellite seconds before it failed. All indications were that the elliptical object had attacked the satellite which was now dead and left spinning out of control.

On March 28, 1989 Tass, the official Soviet news agency stated:

"Phobos II failed to communicate with Earth as scheduled after completing an operation yesterday around the Martian moon Phobos. Scientists at mission control have been unable to establish stable radio contact." But the next day a top official of the Soviet Space Agency (Glavkosmos) said: "Phobos II is 99% lost for good." It is important to note that he stated the entire satellite was gone and not just contact with it.

On March 31, 1989 Headlines dispatched by the Moscow correspondents of the European News Agency (EFE) stated: "Phobos 2 Captured Strange Photos of Mars Before Losing Contact With It's Base." Vremya revealed yesterday that the space probe Phobos II, which was orbiting above Mars when Soviet scientists lost contact with it on Monday, had photographed an UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT on the Martian surface seconds before losing contact."

Scientists described the UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT as a thin ellipse 20 KILOMETERS LONG! It was further stated that the photos could not be an illusion because it was captured by 2 different color cameras as well as cameras taking infrared shots.


One controller at the Kaliningrad control center concluded that the probe was now spinning out of control. It would seem that something struck or shot the Phobos II Probe. In the October 19, 1989 issue of Nature Magazine, Soviet scientists concluded that the craft could be spinning because it was impacted. It has long been rumored that Mars and its moon Phobos are alien colonies. The surface of Mars is covered with strange shapes/buildings that do not appear to be natural such as the pyramids, square buildings, runways, etc. One structure shows the face of a man with a helmet looking into space.

source & references: Tass News Agency http://www.ufodigest.com/marsprobes.html

Life on Mars?

FROM: UFO Phenomenon at Close Sight
http://www.ufologie.net/indexe.htm

It took 25 years to the scientific community to recognize it. It was explained on my site 2 years ago. There is life on Mars, now.

For those who have correctly read the content of the Mars section of this site, this is nothing new.

For those who are not familiar with the context explained in my site, here is the explanation, again, in a simplified manner:

In 1976, the Viking probe landed on Mars, carrying a set of experiments devised to detect if there is or if there isn't life on Mars. The main experiment (the LR experiment) detected life. Another experiment wrongly detected that there cannot be life on Mars because it detected no organic matter on Mars - a scientific joke in itself.

Since 1976, Dr. Gilbert Levin who devised the LR experiment has tried to convince the rest of the scientific community that his experiment detected life, and that the experiment that could not detect organic matter on Mars simply was a faulty experiment, which, reproduced on Earth, could not even detect organic matter on Earth.

Dr. Gilbert Levin also addressed correctly all the other "reasons" that were put forth to claim that there is no life on Mars.

I have become aware of Dr. Gilbert Levin's claims through a TV interview 3 years ago, and later by reading his papers and studies from the web site of his company, and reported about it over in my web site, which generated a flow of email correspondence of people of all kinds of background, who had read it, and were in general impressed with my presentation, and sometimes also dubious, without being really able to tell in what aspect my presentation could be wrong.

Today, several newswires have titled "Scientists Say Mars Viking Mission Found Life."

Several scientists have found compelling evidence that Viking Mars landers did indeed discover life on Mars in 1976. They agree that a re-examination of findings relayed to Earth by the probes some 25 years ago show the tell-tale signs of microbes lurking within the Martian soil.

The researchers will unveil their views Sunday, July 29, at a session on astrobiology, held during the SPIE's 46th annual International Society for Optical Engineering meeting in San Diego, California.

Today, my feeling is a feeling of great joy. These last two years, I have acquired the certainty that there is indeed life on Mars, today, not just in the past, but I have noted that this certainty was generally not shared by the scientific community as a whole, and absolutely not share by the general public, as a result of media ignorance. I have always felt that it is of no importance, because it will only be a matter of one or two years to become common knowledge that there is life on Mars.

What I want to tell my visitors now is: read again my pages on Mars. They need no update today. They tell the story. They tell the story correctly since the beginning.

And read the rest of the information I publish in the site. Because, with a little more time ...

ABOVE: 1989 - Vidnoye, Russia

ABOVE: 1989 - Moscow, Russia

ABOVE: 1989 - Dalnegorsk, Russia

The Belgium UFO Wave

UFO Casebook-- Of all the reports of UFO sightings, some of the most intriguing ones are those which come in flaps, or waves, have multiple witnesses, and photographs. One of the most celebrated cases of this type was the Belgian flap which began in November of 1989. The events of November 29 would be documented by no less than thirty different groups of witnesses, and three separate groups of police officers. All of the reports described a large object flying at low altitude. The craft was of a flat, triangular shape, with lights underneath.

This giant craft made not a sound as it slowly and fearlessly moved across the landscape of Belgium. There was free sharing of information as the Belgian populace tracked this craft as it moved from the town of Liege to the border of the Netherlands and Germany. This first startling sighting would evolve into a wave over the next several months. On two occasions, a pair of F-16 fighters chased the mysterious object, but to no avail. On March 30, 1990, a frantic call to military headquarters came from a Belgian national police Captain. He marveled at a giant triangle passing over, and simultaneously two ground radar stations were reporting an object of unknown origin on their screens. One of these bases was NATO controlled near the city of Glons, southeast of Brussels.

After contacting other radar facilities, they learned that at least four other stations were also reporting the object on their screens. The object was moving across their screens slowly, and failed to send a transponder signal to identify itself.

Two F-16s were ordered to intercept and identify this phenomena,

One of the jet's radars locked the object in. It appeared as a small diamond on the pilot's screen. The pilot reported that only a few seconds after locking on the target, the object began to pick up speed, quickly moving out of radar range. An hour long chase ensued, during which time the F-16s picked up the strange craft's signal two additional times, only to see it fade from view. The triangular craft seemed to be playing a cat and mouse game, and finally was lost in the night lights of Brussels. The pilots of the fighters reported that the UFO had made maneuvers at speeds beyond the capability of their technology, and once the radar showed the craft drop from 10,000 to 500 feet in 5 seconds!

The extraordinary sightings continued for months as the triangular invader was witnessed more than 1,000 times, both day and night. The object dipped low enough to easily be seen with the naked eye, and the event became one of the biggest stories in the Belgian media. Another unusual occurrence associated with the Belgian flap was the inability to take a clear photograph of it. Many observers had their cameras ready, and took what they thought would be clear images, but when the film was developed, the image was blurred, and the craft's outline was vague at best.

This anomaly was addressed by physics professor Auguste Meessen, who was employed by the Catholic University at Louvin. Meessen's investigation produced a theory that infrared light must be the reason that almost all the images were unclear. To put his theory to test, he exposed film to infrared, then photographed objects in regular light. The results were the same as the photographs of the triangle-shaped UFO.

One good image was finally captured on video tape in April 1990. This image showed the underbelly of the craft with spotlights on the three corners. A still frame from this tape has been seen worldwide, and is a classic UFO photograph. The Belgium wave has obtained classic status in UFO lore. With over 1,000 witnesses, confirmed radar sightings, plane radar lock-ins, and military confirmations, the fact that an unknown craft moved across the country of Belgium cannot be denied.

The case is also important for its unique information sharing. Civilian and Military officials were forthcoming with the reports, and set a model for others to follow in their pursuit to uncover the mystery behind the UFO enigma.

Japan Times, Japan, on September 23, 1989.

Kanazawa (Kyodo) A flying object videotaped over Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in early July has been identified as "a real UFO" by a U.S. research institution. Yasuhiko Hamazaki, a 32-year-old public office worker, spotted and videotaped the object on the evening of July 6. Diamond in shape and platinum-colored, the object made no sounds as it hovered over the city in a halo of orange and white light, Hamazaki said. He said it was very different from the planes stationed at nearby Komatsu U.S. Air Base that often fly over the city. Hamazaki videotaped the "flying saucer" for about a minute and sent the tape to the private UFO Research Institution Fund in the United States for analysis. Bruce Maccabee, a physics professor at Washington University carried out the analysis using a computer to give clearer definition to the videotape. After two months of study, Maccabee, who has served as a science and technology advisor to the U.S. Navy, concluded that the flying object in the video was not identical to any existing on earth and could be aknowledged as a "real UFO." He also said the flying object is similar to one that was photographed in Hawaii in 1975. Some of the Institute's findings were sent to the Hakui Youth Mystery Club, which had arranged for Hamazaki to send the video to the U.S. Hamazaki, after being notified of the results, said he was very pleased that his discovery has been aknowledged by an authoritative UFO researcher.