Black Forest, Austria UFO Sighting (November 1944) — FBI Files
A 1944 FBI report details a Luftwaffe pilot's sighting of a saucer-shaped, jet-propelled craft in the Black Forest region of Austria.
Historical Context
The Black Forest region, situated in the southwestern reaches of the Austrian and German territories, has long been a subject of interest for researchers of aerial anomalies due to its dense topography and its strategic importance during the mid-twentieth century. In November 1944, the area was a theater of intense military activity and high-stakes technological development. During this period of the Second World War, the phenomenon of unidentified aerial phenomena was frequently documented by Allied aircrews. These sightings, often referred to as “foo fighters,” involved luminous, unexplained objects that appeared to shadow or pace bomber formations during combat sorties. These reports were not merely anecdotal but were integrated into the intelligence-gathering processes of various national agencies.
The administrative handling of such reports during the 1940s followed established bureaucratic protocols designed to protect military and industrial interests. When anomalous aerial activity was reported, the Federal Bureau of Investigation utilized its network of field offices, including those in Knoxville, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles, to route information to headquarters. This centralized approach ensured that any sighting that could potentially threaten vital installations or represent a breakthrough in enemy technology was documented under the Bureau’s standing protocols.
The Incident
In November 1944, within the Black Forest, U.S. government investigators recorded an unidentified-object incident. This specific case was later released to the public on May 8, 2026, as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The documentation provides a detailed account of an observation made by Paul Peyerl, a former Luftwaffe test pilot. At the time of the sighting, Peyerl was involved in a top-secret project located in Austria.
According to the records, Peyerl observed a saucer-shaped aircraft in flight. The craft was described as being approximately 21 feet in diameter and appeared to be radio-controlled. The propulsion system of the object was noted for its unusual configuration, as it appeared to be propelled by jet engines mounted around the exterior portion of the craft. The documentation indicates that Peyerl photographed the object during flight and also captured an image of the craft while it was parked in a hangar. Peyerl claimed to have retained a negative of the photograph taken during the flight. While the released document contains these specific details regarding the craft’s appearance and the pilot’s actions, the total number of witnesses to the event is not specified in the file.
The report includes verbatim excerpts from the documentation, which capture the pilot’s description of the craft as being “saucer shaped, about twenty-one feet in diameter” and noting that it “mounted several jet engines around the exterior portion of the craft.” The gravity of the observation is further emphasized by the pilot’s assertion that he obtained this information “at the risk of my life.”
Classification and Analysis
The case is categorized as an unidentified object sighting that includes photographic or video evidence. Within the framework of modern analysis, the status of this incident remains officially unresolved. All records released under the PURSUE program are designated as unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) by default. The federal government has maintained a neutral stance, having neither concluded that the event was anomalous nor having confirmed it as a conventional occurrence.
When evaluating sightings from this era, investigators consider several conventional candidates. These include the presence of experimental aircraft developed during the war, weather balloons—such as the Project Mogul series utilized in the late 1940s—and various atmospheric optical phenomena. Common atmospheric explanations for such sightings include sundogs, lenticular clouds, and the visual effects of astronomical objects like Venus, the Moon, or meteors appearing near the horizon. The Black Forest incident remains a significant entry in the archive due to the specific technical descriptions provided in the original FBI filing.