Having done quite a bit of research into foo-fighters, and having
a general interest in W.W.II, I have been quite obsessed by the
story over the years. All avenues of enquiry seemed to lead
nowhere, and in 1999 I went to the Public Records Office (PRO)
at Kew and searched many files connected to the Schweinfurt
raid. At that time I found nothing at all relating to Caidin's
claims and this only strengthened my feelings it was a
fabrication. However...
In July 2000 I spent another few of days at the PRO and this
time hit pay-dirt. Besides finding several hitherto unseen
references to what would later be termed 'foo-fighters', much
new material on ghost rockets and 1950s UK government UFO
research, I again went through all the available Schweinfurt
related files and came across something of great relevance.
But first here is how Martin Caidin reported the incident in
Black Thursday.
"As the bombers of the 384th Group swung into the final bomb
run after passing the Initial Point, the fighter attacks fell off.
This point is vital, and pilots were queried extensively, as were
other crew members, as to the position at that time of the
German fighter planes. Every man interrogated was firm in his
statement that "at the time there were no enemy aircraft above."
At this moment the pilots and top turret gunners, as well as
several crewmen in the Plexiglas noses of the bombers,
reported a cluster of discs in the path of the 384th's formation
and closing with the bombers. The startled exclamations
focused attention on the phenomenon, and the crews talked
back and forth, discussing and confirming the astonishing sight
before them.
The discs in the cluster were agreed upon as being silver
colored, about one inch thick and three inches in diameter.
They were easily seen by the B-17 crewmen, gliding down
slowly in a very uniform cluster.
And then the "impossible" happened. B-17 Number 026 closed
rapidly with a cluster of discs; the pilot attempted to evade an
imminent collision with the objects, but was unsuccessful in
this manoeuvre. He reported at the intelligence debriefing that
his "right wing went directly through a cluster with absolutely
no effect on engines or plane surface."
The intelligence officers pressed their questioning, and the pilot
stated further that one of the discs was heard to strike the tail
assembly of his B-17, but that neither he nor any member of the
crew heard or witnessed an explosion.
He further explained that about twenty feet from the discs the
pilots sighted a mass of black debris of varying sizes in clusters
of three by four feet.
The SECRET report added: "Also observed two other A/C
flying through silver discs with no apparent damage. Observed
discs and debris two other times but could not determine where
it came from."
No further information on this baffling incident has been
uncovered, with the exception that such discs were observed by
pilots and crew members prior to, and after, Mission 115 of
October 14, 1943.
Memorandum of October 24 1943, from Major E.R.T. Holmes,
F.L.O., 1St Bombardment Division, Reference
FLO/1BW/REP/126, to M.I. 15, War Office, Bombardment
Division, London, S.W. (copy to Colonel E.W. Thompson, A-2,
Pinetree)" [4]
Caidin's account of this event via the alleged UK document has
existed in UFO legend for forty years without proof. Now I can
reveal that the document exists and is almost as Caidin records
it.
The document, which Caidin obviously based his account on,
reads as follows. All spelling and punctuation is in the original.
The file in which the document can be found is: AIR 40/464
At the top right of the document is a rubber stamp giving details
of circulation to:
I have tried to check the reference Caidin gives three times
now at the PRO, once by using a professional researcher. It
does not exist. However the AIR files were all re-numbered at
some point prior to them being located at the PRO and it is
possible the reference refers to the files' original designation.