Keith Chester - Strange Company: Military Encounters with UFOs in WWII

Introduction

It was a time when Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, characters who appeared in the pages of science fiction, lived in a world of astonishing inventions: rocket ships, space travel, and powerful weapons. These fictional heroes represented the future, and that future was taking shape on Earth.

Mankind had reached a threshold in the forth decade of the twentieth century. There were unprecedented scientific and technological achievements, but despite such progress, humanity was entering one of its darkest chapters. By 1933, a gathering storm threatened the entire civilized world. It finally struck on September 1, 1939, as the German war machine crossed into Poland unleashing newly developed blitzkrieg tactics and lethal firepower. World War II gripped the world with terror for the next six years.

Both civilians and military personnel saw numerous highly unconventional aircraft around the world prior to and during World War II. From the wars outbreak in 1939, these unconventional aircraft were observed in all theaters of operation in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. They had extraordinary flight performance capabilities, were able to travel at phenomenal speeds, and could avoid radar detection. These remarkable objects seemed to come straight from the pages of science fiction.

Confusing the issue, these unconventional aircraft were sighted along with enemy weaponry and pyrotechnic activity: there were antiaircraft artillery rounds (commonly referred to as flak); an assortment of flares, some designed to psychologically spook the airmen; rockets and missiles of all sizes; and jet and rocket-propelled aircraft. All these sightings were listed under the heading of phenomena or phenomenon in military intelligence memoranda. With each passing year, though unconventional aircraft sightings defied explanation, they were usually lumped together with flares, rockets, and experimental aircraft.

During World War II, the term Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) did not exist. Instead, these strange and mysterious aircraft or objects were labeled with whatever term the observer felt like using at the time. Air crews called them meteors, freaks, and balls of fire. Those names were entered in the crews mission report, and from there, if the name stuck, it would be used in later reports to describe the same phenomenon. It was not until 1945 that these objects became known as Foo Fighters.

At this point, I would like to provide the reader with some background regarding how this book came about. It all started in May of 1989. During my first UFO investigation, I was preparing to inteview a witness with second-hand knowledge of a UFO allegedly recovered by the United States government.(1) Having no experience with this kind of interview, I knew a game plan of sorts was needed. Understanding the importance of obtaining accurate and untainted information, I wanted to speak with someone in the field who might be able to provide some advice.

My first step was placing an impromptu telephone call to Leonard Stringfield, a well-known and well-respected UFO author and researcher. Stringfield had already dedicated nearly forty years to the subject, focusing the last ten years on what he called UFO Crash and Retrievals. Introducing myself, I explained why I had called, and asked if he would be interested in offering his advice and guidance. To my surprise, he was very receptive to helping me.

As a result, Stringfield and I became fast friends and continued communicating with each other long after my investigation was closed. During one of our telephone conversations, we discussed Stringfields personal wartime foo fighter observation. His sighting occurred during the late summer of 1945. At that time, he was flying into mainland Japan, assigned to an intelligence unit with the Fifth Air Force. In broad daylight, he observed a formation of three circular, wingless aircraft, apparently under intelligent control.

Having read about the foo fighters in earlier intelligence reports, Stringfield was certain he had seen the same things. Strangely, though, the war was over, and the Allied Air Forces had complete air supremacy, so he was convinced that what he had seen were not enemy aircraft. Moreover, as far as he was concerned, the objects were nothing like any aircraft he had ever seen prior to, during, or after the war.