The World War II Foo Fighters

During 1944-1945, Allied pilots in both the European and Pacific theaters reported encountering mysterious glowing objects that followed their aircraft. These “foo fighters” were initially suspected to be enemy secret weapons but were never explained—and post-war investigation revealed that German and Japanese pilots had seen the same phenomena.

Origin of the Term

The term “foo fighter” came from a popular comic strip phrase “where there’s foo, there’s fire.” The 415th Night Fighter Squadron, based in France, is credited with coining the term in late 1944.

The Sightings

Pilots described various phenomena:

Glowing Spheres: Ball-shaped lights, often orange or red, that would pace aircraft at wing level

Light Arrays: Groups of lights maintaining formation with the aircraft

Fast-Moving Objects: Lights that would approach, circle the aircraft, then depart at high speed

Apparent Intelligence: The objects seemed to respond to aircraft maneuvers, suggesting controlled flight

Pilot Accounts

Night fighter pilot Lt. David McFalls reported: “I saw a light off my starboard wing. It appeared to be going as fast as I was—about 200 miles per hour. It wasn’t a star…it was a perfectly round light.”

Bomber crews reported foo fighters following their formations through anti-aircraft fire, seemingly unaffected by the explosions around them.

The Mystery Deepens

Initially, Allied command assumed foo fighters were German secret weapons—perhaps remote-controlled devices or psychological warfare tools. But the objects never attacked or interfered with aircraft operations.

After the war, investigation of German records revealed:

• German pilots had reported the same phenomena
• Germany had no project that matched the descriptions
• German command had assumed they were Allied secret weapons

Japanese pilots also reported similar encounters over the Pacific.

Characteristics

Across hundreds of reports, consistent elements emerged:

• Spherical or ball-shaped lights
• Various colors (orange, red, white, green)
• Ability to keep pace with aircraft of all speeds
• Apparent immunity to gunfire
• Non-aggressive behavior
• Sudden appearance and disappearance
• Responsive to aircraft maneuvers

Investigation

Post-war investigation produced no satisfactory explanation:

Ball Lightning: Proposed but rejected—ball lightning doesn’t pace aircraft or maintain position

St. Elmo’s Fire: Doesn’t match the reported behavior of separate, moving objects

Enemy Weapons: Neither Axis power had such technology

Hallucinations: Mass hallucinations across thousands of pilots are implausible

Legacy

The foo fighters remain unexplained, but their significance extends beyond mystery:

• They demonstrate UFO-type phenomena predate the modern UFO era
• Military pilots are credible witnesses
• The global nature of sightings suggests genuine phenomena
• Official investigation produced no conventional explanation

The foo fighters remind us that unusual aerial phenomena have accompanied human aviation since its earliest days of conflict, suggesting that whatever they are, they’ve been watching for a long time.