The term foo fighter was used by _Allied_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies) _aircraft_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft) _pilots_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_pilot) in _World War II_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) to describe various _UFOs_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidentified_flying_object) or mysterious aerial _phenomena_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomena) seen in the skies over both the
_European_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Theater_of_Operations) and
_Pacific Theater of Operations_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Theater_of_Operations) .
Though "foo fighter" initially described a type of UFO reported and named
by the U.S. _415th Night Fighter Squadron_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/415th_Night_Fighter_Squadron) , the term was also commonly used to mean any
UFO sighting from that period._[1]_ (http://en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-toomey-0)
Formally reported from November 1944 onwards, witnesses often assumed that
the foo fighters were _secret weapons_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_weapons) employed by the enemy, but they remained unidentified post-war
and were reported by both Allied and Axis forces. _Michael D. Swords_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Swords) _[2]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-1) writes,
"During WWII, the foo fighter experiences of [Allied] pilots were taken
very seriously. Accounts of these cases were presented to heavyweight
scientists, such as _David Griggs_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Griggs) ,
_Luis Alvarez_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Alvarez) and _H.P.
Robertson_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Percy_Robertson) . The phenomenon
was never explained. Most of the information about the issue has never been
released by military intelligence."
Contents
[_hide_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#) ]
* _1 Etymology_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#Etymology)
* _2 History_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#History)
* _2.1 Sightings_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#Sightings)
* _3 Explanations and theories_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#Explanations_and_theories)
* _4 See also_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#See_also)
* _5 Notes_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#Notes)
* _6 References_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#References)
* _7 External links_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#External_links)
[_edit_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foo_fighter&action=edit�ion=1) ] Etymology
Look up _foo_ (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foo) in _Wiktionary_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary) , the free dictionary.
The _nonsense word_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonsense_word) "_foo_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foobar) " emerged in popular culture during the
early 1930s, it was first used by cartoonist _Bill Holman_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Holman_(cartoonist)) who peppered his _Smokey Stover_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Stover) _[3]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-2) fireman cartoon strips with "foo" signs and
puns._[4]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-3) _[5]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-4) Holman claimed to have
found the word on the bottom of a Chinese figurine._[6]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-RFC3092-5) It was part of service culture
by World War II and is thought to have led to the _backronym_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym) _FUBAR_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUBAR)
._[6]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-RFC3092-5) By
1944, the term "foo fighter" was used by radar operators to describe a
spurious or dubious trace._[6]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-RFC3092-5)
The term foo was borrowed from Bill Holman's Smokey Stover by a radar
operator in the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, Donald J. Meiers, who it is agreed
by most 415th members gave the foo fighters their name. Don was from
Chicago and was an avid reader of Bill Holman's strip which was run daily in the
_Chicago Tribune_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tribune) . Smokey
Stover's catch phrase was "where there's foo, there's fire" and this was
possibly derived from the French word for fire, "le feu". In a mission
debriefing on the evening November 27, 1944, Fritz Ringwald, the unit's S-2
Intelligence Officer, stated that Don Meiers and Ed Schleuter had sighted a red
ball of fire that appeared to chase them through a variety of high-speed
maneuvers. Fritz said that Don was extremely agitated and had a copy of the
comic strip tucked in his back pocket. He pulled it out and slammed it down
on Fritz's desk and said, "... it was another one of those fuckin' foo
fighters!" and stormed out of the debriefing room._[7]_ (h
ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-Jeffery_A_Lindell_1991-6) However, in a
Channel 4 documentary aired 3rd June 2011, reporter _Nick Cook_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cook) showed an RAF pilot's report, obtained from RAF
archives, reporting a UFO incident with a similar red ball of fire on a
bombing mission over Germany, but dated 1942 and taken with fact that the term
was already in use by radar operators in 1944, must raise some query as to
the origin of the term _[8]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-7)
According to Fritz Ringwald, because of the lack of a better name, it
stuck. And this was originally what the men of the 415th started calling these
incidents: "Fuckin' Foo Fighters." In December 1944, a press correspondent
from the _Associated Press_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press)
in Paris, Bob Wilson, was sent to the 415th at their base outside of
Dijon, France to investigate this story._[9]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-8) It was at this time that the term was cleaned up to
just foo fighters. The unit commander, Capt. Harold Augsperger, also decided
to shorten the term to foo fighters in the unit's historical data._[7]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-Jeffery_A_Lindell_1991-6)
[_edit_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foo_fighter&action=edit�ion=2) ] History
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]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-9)
In its 15 January 1945 edition _Time_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_(magazine)) 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_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_Fire) as an
explanation._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-time19450115-10)
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_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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"_[12]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-11)
The postwar _Robertson Panel_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_Panel) cited foo fighter reports, noting that their behavior did not appear to
be threatening, and mentioned possible explanations, for instance that they
were _electrostatic_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic)
phenomena similar to _St. Elmo's fire_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire) , _electromagnetic_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum) phenomena, or simply reflections of light from ice crystals. The
Panel's report suggested that "If the term "flying saucers" had been popular in
1943-1945, these objects would have been so labeled."_[13]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-12)
[_edit_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foo_fighter&action=edit�ion=3) ] Sightings
Foo fighters were reported on many occasions from around the world; a few
examples are noted below.
* Sighting from September 1941 in the _Indian Ocean_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean) was similar to some later Foo Fighter reports.
From the deck of the S.S. Pułaski (a _Polish_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland) merchant vessel transporting British troops), two sailors
reported a "strange globe glowing with greenish light, about half the size of the
full moon as it appears to us."_[14]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-13) They alerted a British officer, who watched the
object's movements with them for over an hour.
* Charles R. Bastien of the _Eighth Air Force_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Air_Force) reported one of the first encounters with foo
fighters over the Belgium/Holland area; he described them as "two fog lights
flying at high rates of speed that could change direction rapidly". During
debriefing, his intelligence officer told him that two RAF night fighters
had reported the same thing, and it was later reported in British
newspapers._[15]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-14)
* Career _U.S. Air Force_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Air_Force) pilot Duane Adams often related that he had witnessed two occurrences
of a bright light which paced his aircraft for about half an hour and then
rapidly ascended into the sky. Both incidents occurred at night, both over
the South Pacific, and both were witnessed by the entire aircraft crew. The
first sighting occurred shortly after the end of World War II while Adams
piloted a _B-25_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25) bomber. The second
sighting occurred in the early 1960s when Adams was piloting a _KC-135_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC-135) tanker.
[_edit_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Foo_fighter&action=edit�ion=4) ] Explanations and theories
* Author Renato Vesco revived the wartime theory that the foo
fighters were a new Nazi secret weapon in his non-fiction work 'Intercept UFO',
reprinted in a revised English edition as 'Man-Made UFOs: 50 Years Of
Suppression' in 1994. Vesco alleges that the foo fighters were in fact a form of
ground-launched automatically guided jet-propelled _flak_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak) mine called the Feuerball (Fireball). The device,
operated by special _SS_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS) units, apparently
resembled a _tortoise_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise) shell in shape,
and flew by means of gas jets that spun like a _Catherine wheel_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_wheel_(firework)) around the fuselage.
Miniature _klystron_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klystron) tubes inside the
device, in combination with the gas jets, created the foo fighters'
characteristic glowing spheroid appearance. A crude form of collision avoidance
radar ensured the craft would not crash into another airborne object, and an
onboard sensor mechanism would even instruct the machine to depart swiftly
if it was fired upon. The purpose of the Feuerball, according to Vesco, was
two-fold. The appearance of this weird device inside a bomber stream would
(and indeed did) have a distracting and disruptive effect on the bomber
pilots; and Vesco alleges that the devices were also intended to have an
offensive capability. _Electrostatic_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic) discharges from the klystron tubes would, he states, interfere with the
ignition systems of the bombers' engines, causing the planes to crash.
Although there is no hard evidence to support the reality of the Feuerball
drone, this theory has been taken up by other aviation/ufology authors, and
has even been cited as the most likely explanation for the phenomena in at
least one recent television documentary on Nazi secret weapons._[16]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-15) _[17]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-16)
* A type of electrical discharge from airplanes' wings (see _St.
Elmo's Fire_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_Fire) ) has been
suggested as an explanation, since it has been known to appear at the wingtips of
aircraft._[11]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-time19450115-10)
* It has been pointed out that some of the descriptions of foo
fighters closely resemble those of _ball lightning_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning) ._[18]_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-17)
* During April 1945, the US Navy began to experiment on visual
illusions as experienced by night time aviators. This work began the US Navy's
Bureau of Medicine (BUMED) project X-148-AV-4-3. This project pioneered the
study of aviators' _vertigo_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo) and was
initiated because a wide variety of anomalous events were being reported
by night time aviators. Dr. Edgar Vinacke, who was the premier flight
psychologist on this project, summarized the need for a cohesive and systemic
outline of the epidemiology of aviator's vertigo as,
"Pilots do not have sufficient information about phenomena of
disorientation, and, as a corollary, are given considerable disorganized, incomplete,
and inaccurate information. They are largely dependent upon their own
experience, which must supplement and interpret the traditions about 'vertigo'
which are passed on to them. When a concept thus grows out of anecdotes
cemented together with practical necessity, it is bound to acquire elements of
mystery. So far as 'vertigo' is concerned, no one really knows more than a
small part of the facts, but a great deal of the peril. Since aviators are
not skilled observers of human behavior, they usually have only the vaguest
understanding of their own feelings. Like other naive persons, therefore,
they have simply adopted a term to cover a multitude of otherwise
inexplicable events."_[19]_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_fighter#cite_note-18)
In a message dated 8/23/2011 1:18:06 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
mike.dickson@gmail.com writes:
I feel grateful that I've never even heard of these guys at all.
On 23/08/2011 02:48, Bruce Daily wrote:
Better yet, why does the Foo Fighter bird lay its eggs in the air?
(or, are we all just bozos on this bus?)
-Bruce D.