ufo_data/bin/rr0/tran1944.md

-   [Harry Truman](TrumanHarryS.html) is elected Vice President of the United States.


- The famous *Messerschmitt* Me-262 twin-engine German fighters form operational fighter squadrons while the Allies still have no jet aircraft to oppose them.


-   **February 12:** At the Kummersdorf Test Center, the launch of an
    experimental rocket in the presence of Propaganda Minister Joseph
    Goebbels, SS Reichsführer Himmler, Heinz Kammler, SS-Gruppenführer
    and Doctor of Engineering, and senior officers. The tracking camera
    records the departure. After development and printing of the film,
    demonstration and review screening in front of the authorities.
    Astonishment: a spherical body, which no one had seen on the
    ground, rises at the same time as the rocket and accompanies it by
    spinning around it. It is believed to be a new type of enemy
    device and information is requested; but agents of Admiral Canaris
    in Great Britain report that similar phenomena are occurring over
    British bases, and that the Allies believe that these are new
    devices coming from Germany [\[Report sent to the Oberkommando der
    Luftwaffe, Durrant 1973\]]{.source}.


-   **Spring:** Ranking of the Massey project started in [1943](1943.html). The double agent informant is denounced and executed.


- **March**: And April. First test flights of prototypes by German inventors Screiver and Mietehe at the Harz mountain complexes.

- **Late May**: In Pîncota, Arad (Romania, 800 km from Harz), a witness reported seeing a German aircraft flying low and staying still in the air for 2 minutes without making any noise before continuing its route [\[Gheorghe Lucaci \> Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh, *UFO's Behind the Iron Curtain*\]{.source}[\].]{.source}


-   **June:** The first [V-1](V1.html) rockets are launched against London from the northwest of France.


-   **Summer:** Near Hastings (Sussex), Bill Steele observed V-1s surrounded in their progression by discs.

- **August**:


- Captain Alvah Reida encounters a "[foo-fighter](glossair.html#foofighter)" while flying over Sumatra in his B-29 bomber. He describes it as a glowing red ball about 2 m in diameter. Captain Reida, flying at 320 km/h at an altitude of about 4000 m, attempts to shake off the light ball, but it maintains its position relative to the plane before disappearing at high speed.

-   **End of August**: In Mattoon (Illinois), several witnesses (mostly women) saw a figure looking through the windows as if looking for someone he knew by sight. The figure pointed an object at the witnesses, and some of the women fainted. The figure, very similar to "Jack Spring-heeled" described in [1837](1837.html)-[1838](1838.html) and [1877](1877.html), left leaving a strange and nauseating smell [\[[Vallée](ValleeJacques.html) 1988\]]{.source}.


-   **Late Summer, 5 PM**: In the Kamensko forest in Blovice (Czechoslovakia), Francois Panes, an 18 year old man, saw an object shaped like a cigar, 100 to 150 m long, lit up underneath. The object changed from yellow to reddish as the sun set during the 10 to 15 minutes of observation. The object descended for 7 minutes then rose up and left slowly [\[Phénomènes Spatiaux n° 15, 1968\]]{.source}.


-   **October:** The Cuban cargo ship *Rubicon* is found off the coast of Florida, in roughly the same area as the *Gloria Colite* 4 years prior. There is only one dog on board, and the ship is in excellent condition: it is not in danger of sinking. All of the crew's belongings are still in place. Only a lifeboat is missing and a broken mooring line hangs from the bow. That month, according to [NOAA](NOAA.html) archives, a terrible hurricane with winds reaching 250 km/h ravaged the region. The broken mooring line would have likely held an anchor that broke during the storm, and the crew likely embarked in the missing lifeboat before being swept away by the raging ocean.


- **September 29**


- In Ukraine (Russia), similar observation to this one from late May [\[Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh, *UFO's Behind the Iron Curtain*\]]{.source}.


-   **10:45:** At the Rechlin-Roggenthin Test Center, 12000 m up, a pilot (identity not provided in the report) is testing a new Messerchmitt ME 262 Schwalbe (let us recall that this is where the *Erprobungskommando 162*, commanded by Oberstleutnant Heintz Bär, an ace with over 200 victories, was based; this special group of test pilots was better known as the *Volksjäger-Erprobungskommando*). His attention is drawn to two luminous points to his right. Diving full throttle, he finds himself in the presence of a cylindrical body over 100 m long; on the side, some round openings in the shape of portholes; from the front to the middle of the length, vertical rods in the shape of antennas; no wings; speed exceeding 2000 km/h. The pilot approaches it to within 500 m for a few seconds and can observe it. He is questioned by the Special Bureau 13 and must draw a sketch of what he saw. It is on this occasion that Prof. Dr. H. Frazer presents his theory of the adjustable protective magnetic field [\[Report sent to the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, Durrant 1973\]]{.source}.

- **November**

-   **November 23, 10 PM:** Lieutenant Ed Schlueter, a young, tall and competent pilot from Oshkosh (Wisconsin), takes off from Dijon (France) for a routine mission of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron: to scan the skies for German planes to shoot down (he had done this several times before and had been decorated for it). With him is Lieutenant Radar Observer Donald J. Meiers, as well as Lieutenant Fred Ringwald, the squadron's intelligence officer, flying as an observer. The trio continues their search, traversing the mostly clear night sky, with only a few clouds and a quarter moon, going on either side of the Rhine north of Strasbourg. At one point Ringwald says: I wonder what those lights are over there above the hills. Probably stars Schlueter replies. No, I don't think so, Ringwald replies. Are you sure it's not a reflection of us? Absolutely. Ringwald remembers -- there are no hills in that area. But the "lights" still shine -- 8 or 10 in a line -- orange fireballs flying through the air at an astonishing speed. Schlueter then sees them far at the end of his left wing. He immediately checks with the Allied radar stations. There's nobody else out there, they reply. Are you crazy? And there are no enemy planes visible on Meiers' radar either. Schlueter turns towards the lights, ready for action. They disappear, then reappear further away. 5 minutes later they seem to thin out and disappear for good. The aviators continue their mission, and destroy 7 freight trains behind the German lines. When they return to Dijon, they decide to keep the story to themselves for the moment. A typical observation of [foo-fighters](glossair.html#foofighter). [[McClure 2001, Fortean Studies 7]]{.source}


-   **A few nights later:** Lieutenant pilot Henry Giblin of Santa Rosa (California) and Lieutenant radar observer Walter Cleary of Worcester (Massachusetts) are flying at an altitude of 1000 feet when they see a huge red light ball 1000 feet above them, moving at 200/h. The men think they have eaten something that didn't agree with them and don't run to report their experience[\[McClure 2001, Fortean Studies 7\]]{.source}.


-   **December 14:** In an article titled "The Mysterious Floating Ball is a New German Weapon", the *New York Times* reported: Supreme HQ, Allied Expeditionary Force, Dec 13 - A new German weapon has made its appearance on the Western air front, it was revealed today. American Air Force pilots report their encounters with silver-colored spheres in the sky over German territory. The spheres are encountered alone or in groups. Sometimes they are semi-translucent.


-   **December 22, 6 PM:** David L. McFalls, a pilot of the 415th American Fighter Squadron, and a radar operator return from a mission over Haguenau, when they see 2 large orange lights quickly joining their flight altitude of 3500 m (10000 feet). McFalls notes: At 6 PM we observed 2 lights leaving the ground heading towards us. Once at our altitude, they stabilized and stayed behind my tail. The lights had the appearance of large orange glows. After staying 2 minutes with the plane, they detached and flew away, flying in a perfectly controlled manner, and went away [\[McClure 2001, Fortean Studies 7\]]{.source}. The pilot had dived to try to distance them, but without success [\[Lore, Gordon I. R. Jnr., and Deneault, Harold H., Jnr., 'Mysteries of the Skies; UFOs in Perspective' p. 116 Prentice-Hall, New Jersey 1968\]]{.source}.


-   **December 23-24:** McFalls witnesses another phenomenon, accompanied by his radar observer, Lieutenant Ned Baker of Hemat (California). Still at 3500 m (10000 feet) altitude, a red glowing ball rushes towards the plane. The pilot recounts: Suddenly, it took the shape of an airplane, which, after making a very tight turn, dove down and then disappeared [\[McClure 2001, Fortean Studies 7\].]{.source} The army thinks it's a secret German weapon. Yet, after the war, German pilots will claim to have encountered similar phenomena.


- During a mission in Romania to bomb the refineries operated by the Germans, Boris Surikov and his commander, Major Bajenov, flew at an altitude of 5000 m above the southwest of Ukraine when they encountered a particularly unusual aircraft. In front of the plane, a large elliptical object flew in our direction (...) We had read in the newspapers about new German weapons, but we saw nothing like it. What happened was that our huge 14.5 tonne aircraft began to be shaken, the oil pressure increased, and when I leaned on the window I felt a strong electrostatic discharge. I feared that the plane would catch fire. It passed us and disappeared, but our plane was still affected: I looked at the wings, covered with electric discharges [[Interview with Surikov by English television producers Lawrence Moore and Livia Russel in Moscow in 1994]{.source}.


- Beginning of the supposed operation [Uranus](1944_Uranus.html).


-   **December 31:** AP journalist Bob Wilson is with the 415th Squadron to investigate the [foo fighters](FooFighters.html). He interviews the men until 4am, and appears the next day.


-   **In the late afternoon**: In Ploiesti (Romania), the Vega refinery is on fire after a bombing and a yellowish, sharp object is observed coming from the North. The object leaves a trail similar to the vapor of an airplane but is shorter and vibrating. Its speed is 3 to 4 times higher than that of the aircrafts often observed above the city. There is no noise and the object circles around the bombed area and then disappears from where it came. The observation lasted 15 minutes [\[Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh, UFO's Behind the Iron Curtain\]]{.source}.