Hi,
I have taken the decision to merge this blog with my other at:
http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com
I am finding that despite having downloaded several hundred newspaper items from the digitised newspaper collection at the National Library of Australia's TROVE, that a very high percentage are reports of meteors and meteor trails. There are very few interesting items which have not already been covered in Magonia Downunder blog posts.
I will therefore continue to report any pre 24 June 1947 interesting sightings, on my main blog, along side reporting my research findings in other areas of my interest.
Thanks you for your understanding.
Keith Basterfield.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Moira McGhee's new book
Hi,
New South Wales based researcher, Moira McGhee has recently published a new book "Contact Down Under" full of fascinating Australasian sightings and experiences.
Some of these, although not known until post 24 June 1947, are reported to have happened pre 24 June 1947. For the record, I will provide details as Moira presented them in her excellent book.
1924 Coolamon, New South Wales
Some years ago, an elderly man, named Ian Rogers, rang me about an incident when he was a boy in 1924. One morning he was checking their rabbit traps in the Lysterfield State Forest, south of Coolman. He has lived on the family farm there all his life, and in those days rabbits and other game formed a regular part of their diet.
"I was behind a tree, when I heard a humming noise, looked up and saw this flying object which landed in a clearing about 100 yards away. I have never forgotten it, and as best as I can remember, it was a long cylindrical shape, rounded at both ends, with four square windows along the side. It was at least 30 feet long, and I remember lights of some kind.
"I hid behind the tree and watched it for about an hour. At one stage some people got out, they just looked like 'people' and I don't know where they went - they didn't come my way. After about an hour it flew off the ground and away into the sky." I noted there were no helicopters in 1924, and asked him if anything else happened.
"The ground was all burnt black where it had been, and the trees were singed. There were dead birds all around, and nothing grew in that small area for a long time. After it had gone I saw something glinting on the ground. It was a small piece of metal. I kept it for a long time, as it was like magic. When I rubbed it with my hands it would move off of its own accord. I raced home to tell my mother, she scolded me for getting back so late. I don't remember being gone so long, and she said not to tell anyone else about what happened."' (McGhee; pp97-98.)
February 1930 Grose Valley, New South Wales
"Researcher Rex Gilroy received a call from one Sydney woman who was still mystified about the unidentified object she saw years ago when visiting the Blue mountains. She was at Govett's Leap Lookout overlooking the Grose valley, about midday, with her parents and siblings.
"They all saw a big silver object hovering high in the eastern sky above the valley at about cloud level. It was very large, like a big upright triangle with a flat top and attracted a lot of attention from other tourists during the half hour it hovered there. It then flew off eastwards towards Sydney."
(McGhee; p.94.)
February 1943 Darwin, Northern Territory
'W. Wyatt detailed an interesting report from World War 2, when he was a RAAF pilot. All witnesses were trained to identify aerial craft and objects.
"On a clear Darwin February night in 1943, RAAF squadron aircraft were doing 'circuits and bumps' - practice training for pilots in using flare-path landing strips on night flying. We had just received in the last aircraft for the night, and were preparing to refuel and get ready to return to camp, when the warning was given: "Better hit the ground!"
"The alarm was caused by a bright light coming in like another plane, it was soon near us, and went off over the trees. There was no sound whatsoever and steady movement, but much slower than a plane. Our fear came because we knew of a Luftwaffe trick of trying to join up on the tail of Allied aircraft landings in Europe, then strafing and bombing the area as they sped off.
"But this was no plane, Japanese or Allied, and we had never seen a parachute flare or Very flare, ever move under control. Our commanding officer immediately put planes back on readiness but nothing at all happened. To me it was just a large bright light moving over the landing strip, but I have no explanation. Later, our guards company said they had seen similar lights around the area, another night."" (McGhee; p.176.)
1940's, just after World War 2 Wilcannia, New South Wales
"A senior police officer told me of an elderly country woman, now deceased, who saw a traditional flying saucer during daylight hours, near Wilcannia, in western New South Wales, in the 1940's just after World War 2. She claimed that after reporting the sighting to the authorities, she received a letter from the Australian Air Force confirming the report, and warning her not to tell anyone about the craft. The police officer attested to having seen the letter, which appeared to be genuine." (McGhee; p.112.)
New South Wales based researcher, Moira McGhee has recently published a new book "Contact Down Under" full of fascinating Australasian sightings and experiences.
Some of these, although not known until post 24 June 1947, are reported to have happened pre 24 June 1947. For the record, I will provide details as Moira presented them in her excellent book.
1924 Coolamon, New South Wales
 |
| Image courtesy of "Whereis?" |
Some years ago, an elderly man, named Ian Rogers, rang me about an incident when he was a boy in 1924. One morning he was checking their rabbit traps in the Lysterfield State Forest, south of Coolman. He has lived on the family farm there all his life, and in those days rabbits and other game formed a regular part of their diet.
"I was behind a tree, when I heard a humming noise, looked up and saw this flying object which landed in a clearing about 100 yards away. I have never forgotten it, and as best as I can remember, it was a long cylindrical shape, rounded at both ends, with four square windows along the side. It was at least 30 feet long, and I remember lights of some kind.
"I hid behind the tree and watched it for about an hour. At one stage some people got out, they just looked like 'people' and I don't know where they went - they didn't come my way. After about an hour it flew off the ground and away into the sky." I noted there were no helicopters in 1924, and asked him if anything else happened.
"The ground was all burnt black where it had been, and the trees were singed. There were dead birds all around, and nothing grew in that small area for a long time. After it had gone I saw something glinting on the ground. It was a small piece of metal. I kept it for a long time, as it was like magic. When I rubbed it with my hands it would move off of its own accord. I raced home to tell my mother, she scolded me for getting back so late. I don't remember being gone so long, and she said not to tell anyone else about what happened."' (McGhee; pp97-98.)
February 1930 Grose Valley, New South Wales
"Researcher Rex Gilroy received a call from one Sydney woman who was still mystified about the unidentified object she saw years ago when visiting the Blue mountains. She was at Govett's Leap Lookout overlooking the Grose valley, about midday, with her parents and siblings.
"They all saw a big silver object hovering high in the eastern sky above the valley at about cloud level. It was very large, like a big upright triangle with a flat top and attracted a lot of attention from other tourists during the half hour it hovered there. It then flew off eastwards towards Sydney."
(McGhee; p.94.)
February 1943 Darwin, Northern Territory
 |
| Image courtesy "Whereis?" |
"On a clear Darwin February night in 1943, RAAF squadron aircraft were doing 'circuits and bumps' - practice training for pilots in using flare-path landing strips on night flying. We had just received in the last aircraft for the night, and were preparing to refuel and get ready to return to camp, when the warning was given: "Better hit the ground!"
"The alarm was caused by a bright light coming in like another plane, it was soon near us, and went off over the trees. There was no sound whatsoever and steady movement, but much slower than a plane. Our fear came because we knew of a Luftwaffe trick of trying to join up on the tail of Allied aircraft landings in Europe, then strafing and bombing the area as they sped off.
"But this was no plane, Japanese or Allied, and we had never seen a parachute flare or Very flare, ever move under control. Our commanding officer immediately put planes back on readiness but nothing at all happened. To me it was just a large bright light moving over the landing strip, but I have no explanation. Later, our guards company said they had seen similar lights around the area, another night."" (McGhee; p.176.)
1940's, just after World War 2 Wilcannia, New South Wales
 |
| Image courtesy "Whereis?" |
Friday, May 13, 2016
Australian press items re "Foo-Fighters"
Hi,
In my last two posts, I have reported on the search by Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean and I, for potential "Foo-Fighter" sightings from Australia, following the recent interest in this topic generated by long term Boston researcher Barry Greenwood.
While typing up these posts the thought passed through my mind as to whether or not, there were any newspaper articles published in Australia, about this topic during the years of World War II?
I therefore looked at the TROVE digitised newspaper collection, held by the National Library of Australia. Indeed there are such newspaper articles. I located six in all, so far.
In my last two posts, I have reported on the search by Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean and I, for potential "Foo-Fighter" sightings from Australia, following the recent interest in this topic generated by long term Boston researcher Barry Greenwood.
While typing up these posts the thought passed through my mind as to whether or not, there were any newspaper articles published in Australia, about this topic during the years of World War II?
I therefore looked at the TROVE digitised newspaper collection, held by the National Library of Australia. Indeed there are such newspaper articles. I located six in all, so far.
THE ARTICLES
(1) Newcastle Sun (New South Wales) 3 January 1945 page 8.
"Foo fighters are latest
Our special representative
Washington - Tuesday
Pilots flying over Germany at night report that strange balls of fire are following them around on their missions. They have christened these strange phenomena "Foo fighters."
One pilot reported "A Foo Fighter picked me up recently at 700 feet and chased me down the Rhone Valley. I turned to starboard and two red balls of fire turned with me. I turned to port and they turned too. I was doing 260 miles an hour and they kept up with me. I had a horrible thought that the Germans on the ground would press a button and explode them, but they don't explode or attack - they merely follow us like will of the wisps."
Physicists suggest that what was seen was St Elmo's Fire, which, in stormy weather, sometimes appears at the mastheads of ships and on land at the tops of trees and steeples.
It is a sort of electrical discharge, red when positive and blue when negative.
Another suggestion is that they might be gaseous balls of fire controlled by radio from the ground and designed to interfere with radar signals."
(2) Argus (Melbourne) 3 January 1945 page 1.
 |
| Image courtesy of National Library of Australia |
"Germans using fireballs against allied planes
From our correspondent in New York
American pilots are encountering fireballs that race alongside the wings of the American fighter planes over the Reich says American Associated Press correspondent at a US night fighter base. Named "Foo Fighters," these balls keep pace with the planes. There are three varieties - those that fly alongside, others which fly in front of the plane and a third kind seen at a distance in groups of 15.
The Americans believe they are meant to have a psychological effect. They do not attack planes, but follow like will-o-the-wisps."
(3) Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 4 January 1945 page 7.
"Germans use fireballs
New York
American pilots are encountering fireballs that race alongside the wings of the American fighter planes over the Reich says American Associated Press correspondent at a US night fighter base. Named "Foo Fighters" these balls keep pace with the planes. There are three varieties, the ones which fly alongside, other which fly in front of the plane and a third kind seen at a distance in groups of 15. The Americans believe they are meant to have a psychological effect. They do not attack planes , but follow like will-o-the-wisps."
(4) Army News (Darwin) 9 January 1945 page 3.
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| Image courtesy National Library of Australia |
"Balls of fire chased fighters
Washington.
Same text as (1) above.
(5) The Uralla Times (New South Wales) 15 March 1945 page 4.
"Balls of fire race alongside allied planes
A US night fighter base, France Jan 2
The Nazis have thrown something new into the sky over Germany - the weird, mysterious "foo fighter", balls of fire which race alongside the wings of American Beaufighters flying intruder missions over the Reich.
US pilots have been encountering the eerie "foo fighters" for more than a month in their night flights. No one apparently knows exactly what this sky weapon is.
The balls of fire appear suddenly and accompanying the planes for miles. They appear to be radio controlled from the ground and manage to keep up with planes flying 300 miles an hour, official intelligence reports disclose.
'There are three kinds of these lights we call "foo fighters" said Lieut Donald Meiers, of Chicago. "One is red balls of fire which appear off aircraft wing tips and fly along with us, the second is a vertical row of three balls of fire, which fly in front of us and the third is a group of about 15 lights which appear off in the distance - like a Christmas tree up in the air - and flicker on and off."
The pilots of this night fighter squadron - in operations since September 1944 - find these fiery balls the weirdest thing they have as yet encountered. They are convinced that the 'foo fighter' is designed to be a psychological weapon as well as military although it it not the nature of the fireballs to attack planes.
"A 'foo fighter' picked me up recently at 700 feet and chased me 20 miles down the Rhone Valley," Lieut Meiers said. "I turned to starboard and two balls of fire turned with me. I turned to the port side and they turned with me. We were going 260 miles an hour and the balls were keeping right up with us."
"On another occasion when a 'foo fighter' picked us up I dived at 300 miles an hour. It kept right on our wingtips for a while and then zoomed up into the sky.
"When I first saw the things off my wing tips I had the horrible thought that a German on the ground was ready to press a button and explode them. But they didn't explode or attack us. They just seem to follow us like will-o-the-wisps."
An Associated Press report from Paris Dec. 13 said the Germans had thrown silvery balls into the air against day raiders. Pilots then reported they had seen these objects, both individually and in clusters during foreys over the Reich.
Foo Fighters that dog fliers in Europe partly explained
New York Jan 3
The Descriptions of the new German foo fighters, or balls of fire, fit into several well known electrical phenomena.
These are induction, ball lightning and have some, though not all the aspects of St Elmo's Fire. If they are electrical, they are something created in the air close to the planes, rather than anything shot like artillery shells or anything floating in the air and wait for a plane.
Induction is suggested by the report that the foo fighters keep up with the plane's speed, changes in speed, or changes in direction.
Electrical induction of some sort would explain such movement synchronization. Nothing else that is well known would explain such perfect timings. Radio control from the ground does not explain the timing, unless radio control is meant to describe a beam which is part of the automatic induction.
Induction, however, fails completely to describe what happens when a fireball zooms upward leaving its plane. Apparently the balls fly paths thousands of feet away from the planes.
The common experience that resembles this trick is ball lightning. How anyone could produce ball lighting is unknown. Exactly what ball lighting may be is also unknown. But it is a quite harmless thing even as the German foo-balls are reported to be. A lightning ball can explode in your front yard, making a loud bang but doing little or no damage.
St Elmos' Fire is a brush discharge of static electricity, which streams off some solid object with brilliant intensity. Aviators are familiar with brush discharges and would recognise them, so that the foo-balls are probably not ordinary St Elmo's Fire. The deep purple color of brush discharge static would explain the reports that the foo-balls are red. The shade of red has not been reported. Ball lighting has been reported in slightly red shades.
A reason for the foo-balls, again based on experience, is interference with radar, radio or perhaps with a plane's ignition. Ignition interference would stop a plane in the air. It was a real project in Italy before the wat, and how to do it is well known in theory in the United States. All you needed then to stop a plane five or more miles away, was a power plant equal to Niagara Falls.
A guess can be made that the foo-balls are evidence that German natural scientists have found some way to get around part of the power trouble in interference, the fact that they are using them, and so disclosing their secrets to the Allies, would indicate that they do not hope to attain to ignition interference power."
(6) Northern Times (Carnarvon, Western Australia) 29 June 1945 page 2.
"If it was not a hoax or an optical illusion, it was certainly the most puzzling secret weapon that allied fighters have yet encountered.
Recently, night fighter pilots based in France told a strange story of balls of fire which for more than a month had been following their planes at night over Germany. No one seemed to know what, if anything, the fireballs were supposed to accomplish.
Pilots, guessing that it was a new psychological weapon, named it the 'Foo Fighter.' Their description of the apparition varied, but they agreed that the mysterious flares stuck close to their planes and appeared to follow them at high speed for miles. One pilot said that a foo fighter, appearing as red balls of fire off his wing, stuck with him until he dived at 360 miles an hour; then the balls zoomed into the sky.
Sceptical scientists baffled by the whole affair, were inclined to dismiss the fireballs as an illusion, perhaps an after-image of light, which remained in the pilot's eyes after they had been dazzled by flak bursts. But front-line correspondents and arm-chair experts had a field day. They solemnly guessed -
(1) that the balls of fire were radio-controlled (an obvious absurdity, since they could not be synchronized with a plane's movements by remote control;
(2) that they were created by "electrical induction of some sort,"
(3) that they were attracted to a plane by magnetism.
The correspondents guessed that foo fighters were initiated -
(1) to dazzle pilots;
(2) to serve as aiming points for anti-aircraft gunners;
(3) to interfere with a plane's radar;
(4) to cut a plane's ignition, thus stop its engine in mid-air.
Some scientists suggested another possibility, that the foo-balls were nothing more than St Elmo's Fire, a reddish, brush-like discharge of atmospheric electricity which has often been seen near the tips of church steeples, ships' masts and yardarms."
My comments
1. These articles, even though they are spread across January to June 1945, seem to come from one primary source. The Uralla Times article provides the lengthiest reporting, derived, it says from a US night fighter base in France, and cites a date of 2 January 1945.
2. It is noted that none of the six articles, mentions,whether or not, any similar reports were appearing in the Pacific region of the war.
3. I also note that many of the documents in the National Archives of Australia's files, which have bee referenced in my earlier two blog posts about this subject, have been marked "secret." Thus in early 1945 it is unlikely that anyone outside of the Australian Department of Defence, would have been aware of any similar sightings by RAAF crews flying in the Pacific war arena.
The search, by Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean and I, for additional similar sightings by RAAF aircrews, will continue.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
The "rockets" of 20 Squadron
Hi,
I have now been through two more files from the National Archives of Australia, looking for possible "Foo-Fighters" like sightings.
The first file was NAA file series A9652 control symbol box 15, barcode 13057971, titled "RAAF squadron narrative reports - 18 squadron" based in Australia. Its date range was January 1944 to May 1945. I found nothing of interest.
The second file was NAA file series A9652 control symbol box 16, barcode 13057972, titled "RAAF squadron narrative reports - 20, 21 and 22 squadrons" with a date range of October 1943 to May 1945. I found the following.
(1) 16 June 1943.
a. An aircraft of 20 squadron was on its way to Langgoer at night.
"On way to target rockets observed Mandek Is, Banda Is, SE tip Ceram. Over Laha 16/1300z - 1415 z. Cloud too thick and ASV u/s. Nil visibility at Langgoer..." Pilot was F/l Read.
b. A second aircraft on its way to Langgoer at night.
"Rocket observed 60 miles SE of Banda Is. Burst at 2000 feet & red stars emerged..." Pilot was F/l Weaver.
c. A third aircraft on its way to Langgoer at night.
"3/10 cloud base 2500. Visibility good. ASV u/s. 16/1145z observed rocket + possible navigation lights of a/c west of Tanimbar islands. Some minutes later rocket observed to port again." Pilot was w/c Stilling.
I note that the reports were careful to use terms such as verey light; unidentified aircraft; searchlight etc. when describing what they were seeing. Out of 851 pages on this file, with several hundred action reports, I located only the three above and the one below which used the term "rocket."
(2) 15 October 1944.
A 20 squadron aircraft on its way at night, reported:
"White rocket sighted from position half way along North coast Madoera Island 1400z."
I have now been through two more files from the National Archives of Australia, looking for possible "Foo-Fighters" like sightings.
The first file was NAA file series A9652 control symbol box 15, barcode 13057971, titled "RAAF squadron narrative reports - 18 squadron" based in Australia. Its date range was January 1944 to May 1945. I found nothing of interest.
The second file was NAA file series A9652 control symbol box 16, barcode 13057972, titled "RAAF squadron narrative reports - 20, 21 and 22 squadrons" with a date range of October 1943 to May 1945. I found the following.
(1) 16 June 1943.
a. An aircraft of 20 squadron was on its way to Langgoer at night.
"On way to target rockets observed Mandek Is, Banda Is, SE tip Ceram. Over Laha 16/1300z - 1415 z. Cloud too thick and ASV u/s. Nil visibility at Langgoer..." Pilot was F/l Read.
b. A second aircraft on its way to Langgoer at night.
"Rocket observed 60 miles SE of Banda Is. Burst at 2000 feet & red stars emerged..." Pilot was F/l Weaver.
c. A third aircraft on its way to Langgoer at night.
"3/10 cloud base 2500. Visibility good. ASV u/s. 16/1145z observed rocket + possible navigation lights of a/c west of Tanimbar islands. Some minutes later rocket observed to port again." Pilot was w/c Stilling.
I note that the reports were careful to use terms such as verey light; unidentified aircraft; searchlight etc. when describing what they were seeing. Out of 851 pages on this file, with several hundred action reports, I located only the three above and the one below which used the term "rocket."
(2) 15 October 1944.
A 20 squadron aircraft on its way at night, reported:
"White rocket sighted from position half way along North coast Madoera Island 1400z."
Sunday, May 8, 2016
The search for "Foo-Fighters" reports from Australia
Hi,
"Strange Company: Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II" authored by Keith Chester (published by Anomalist Books in 2007) is an excellent resource concerning information about "Foo-Fighters."
US researcher Barry Greenwood was recently the recipient of 8000 pages of documentation about "Foo-Fighters" from Chester. Discussions between Greenwood and Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean, raised the possibility of a search for any similar sightings buried in military records held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA).
Paul Dean has already posted two blog posts on his own blog. Click here and here to read these. Paul later located, several potentially interesting files in the NAA. Paul and I have divided these up in order to search through them. These files contain dozens of intelligence reports of missions flown out of Australia.
So far, a two hour search by myself has reviewed NAA file series A9652, control symbol Box 14, barcode 13057920. It is titled "RAAF Squadron narrative reports - 18 Squadron" and dated 1943.
On this file, I found two potentially interesting observations.
(1) "Unexplained sightings."
On the 26 June 1943, aircraft undertook Operation NEI 18 which was to attack Penfoey in order to destroy any aircraft at the aerodrome. Unusually, the mission report has an additional paragraph titled "Unexplained Sightings."
"Bombadier on Duty three reports that he experienced for a second time a peculiar light underneath the plane, thought to be at ground level, dull streaks, which follow a wavy course, but on the whole follow the same course as the aircraft.
Smoke has been seen similar to that emitted from a rocket. Left behind as the object shoots along, and the rate of travel is fairly fast.
A more close look will be kept on the next mission to obtain further details. Bombadier did not report this on the first time seen as he did not pay much attention, and was not sure he had actually seen the occurrence on the first occasion of sighting."
The Bombadier on Duty three was listed as "Sgt. McPhee."
(2) "Unexplained occurrence."
"On the 24 July 1943, aircraft conducted Operation NEI 36, which was to attack the Koepang and Tenau areas.
Aircraft Duty 8 "...reports while passing over Babaoe a verey light, blue to white light shone for 2-3 seconds in that vicinity."
"Bombadier Duty 8 states that he would not have reported this occurrence but for the fact that the light went up. Other observers have discussed question before and always estimated that lights seen were shooting stars, but as streak went up Bomabdier mentioned this fact.
The supposition is now put forward that the lights signal (reported above) and the absence of A/A may indicate the presence of night fighters.
Observer states that the light went overhead and ahead, rose up and then suddenly stopped. The rise coupled with the sudden extinguishment would seem to preclude any possibility of a shooting star. Aircraft was at the time flying straight and steady.
It is known that enemy aircraft do not always attack when flying at night (see Summary No. 104, Paras 52 to 63) and it may be that the enemy is practising in this theatre to endeavour to effect interceptions.
One noticeable difference is the absence of searchlights. No sighting of enemy aircraft was made."
The mission report gives the name of the Duty 8 Bombadier as F/O Simpson.
Paul and I will bring you any other observations which we find on this series of files.
"Strange Company: Military Encounters with UFOs in World War II" authored by Keith Chester (published by Anomalist Books in 2007) is an excellent resource concerning information about "Foo-Fighters."
 |
| Image courtesy of Amazon Books |
US researcher Barry Greenwood was recently the recipient of 8000 pages of documentation about "Foo-Fighters" from Chester. Discussions between Greenwood and Melbourne based researcher Paul Dean, raised the possibility of a search for any similar sightings buried in military records held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA).
Paul Dean has already posted two blog posts on his own blog. Click here and here to read these. Paul later located, several potentially interesting files in the NAA. Paul and I have divided these up in order to search through them. These files contain dozens of intelligence reports of missions flown out of Australia.
So far, a two hour search by myself has reviewed NAA file series A9652, control symbol Box 14, barcode 13057920. It is titled "RAAF Squadron narrative reports - 18 Squadron" and dated 1943.
On this file, I found two potentially interesting observations.
(1) "Unexplained sightings."
On the 26 June 1943, aircraft undertook Operation NEI 18 which was to attack Penfoey in order to destroy any aircraft at the aerodrome. Unusually, the mission report has an additional paragraph titled "Unexplained Sightings."
"Bombadier on Duty three reports that he experienced for a second time a peculiar light underneath the plane, thought to be at ground level, dull streaks, which follow a wavy course, but on the whole follow the same course as the aircraft.
Smoke has been seen similar to that emitted from a rocket. Left behind as the object shoots along, and the rate of travel is fairly fast.
A more close look will be kept on the next mission to obtain further details. Bombadier did not report this on the first time seen as he did not pay much attention, and was not sure he had actually seen the occurrence on the first occasion of sighting."
The Bombadier on Duty three was listed as "Sgt. McPhee."
(2) "Unexplained occurrence."
"On the 24 July 1943, aircraft conducted Operation NEI 36, which was to attack the Koepang and Tenau areas.
Aircraft Duty 8 "...reports while passing over Babaoe a verey light, blue to white light shone for 2-3 seconds in that vicinity."
"Bombadier Duty 8 states that he would not have reported this occurrence but for the fact that the light went up. Other observers have discussed question before and always estimated that lights seen were shooting stars, but as streak went up Bomabdier mentioned this fact.
The supposition is now put forward that the lights signal (reported above) and the absence of A/A may indicate the presence of night fighters.
Observer states that the light went overhead and ahead, rose up and then suddenly stopped. The rise coupled with the sudden extinguishment would seem to preclude any possibility of a shooting star. Aircraft was at the time flying straight and steady.
It is known that enemy aircraft do not always attack when flying at night (see Summary No. 104, Paras 52 to 63) and it may be that the enemy is practising in this theatre to endeavour to effect interceptions.
One noticeable difference is the absence of searchlights. No sighting of enemy aircraft was made."
The mission report gives the name of the Duty 8 Bombadier as F/O Simpson.
Paul and I will bring you any other observations which we find on this series of files.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
No posts of late
Hi
Due to a recent death in the family, there will be no posts to this blog, for a while. I hope to resume posting here in about a month.
Due to a recent death in the family, there will be no posts to this blog, for a while. I hope to resume posting here in about a month.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
31 March 1907 - Cairns, Queensland, Australia - an Easter Venus?
Hi all,
The recent book "Return to Magonia" by Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough, features a number of observations from Australia. One of these (on pages 228-229) was from North Queensland in 1907, as described in the "Morning Post" Cairns, dated Tuesday 16 April 1907, page 4.
The text of the article reads as follows:
"A brilliant spectacle.
(From Port Douglas 'Record.')
A very brilliant comet was observed from Port Douglas on Easter Sunday morning at about half past three. We presume it was the one predicted by Professor Matteuci to strike the earth with disastrous results at the latter end of last month, and judging by the description given below, must have been perilously close. Our exchanges the Kuranda make no reference whatsoever to the matter, so it appears not to have been a subject of general observation. So far as we can learn the only person in the district fortunate enough to witness the astral body in all its glory were the Misses Hasenkamp, one of whom (Miss Dora) has kindly written the following description for the 'Record.'
At about 3.30am on the 31st March (Easter Sunday morning) I was awakened by my sister Florry calling me to get up and look at the comet.
I arose and saw in the eastern sky a large dazzling bright star which appeared to be as large as a football. Its brilliant light dazzled my eyes for a few seconds. When I looked again it had thousands of small glittering spikes of silvery light, and on the top right hand side of it, a long rod resembling the flame of a candle-light, about two foot in length, appeared with another tail in the shape of a half-circle - which faced down towards the earth - attached to it.
The circle shaped rod had a couple of lights like red hot coals. I was looking at the comet for about a quarter of an hour when it gradually faded away into the sky, and the atmosphere became very cold. The comet again appeared shining as before, the lights on the lower rods getting fainter.
The moon was shining bright all the time and had three black spots on it. The comet was moving very slowly and appeared to be going in the direction of the moon. I watched for about another half hour and then it disappeared altogether. It was the most brilliant sight I ever saw."
The recent book "Return to Magonia" by Chris Aubeck and Martin Shough, features a number of observations from Australia. One of these (on pages 228-229) was from North Queensland in 1907, as described in the "Morning Post" Cairns, dated Tuesday 16 April 1907, page 4.
The account
The text of the article reads as follows:
"A brilliant spectacle.
(From Port Douglas 'Record.')
A very brilliant comet was observed from Port Douglas on Easter Sunday morning at about half past three. We presume it was the one predicted by Professor Matteuci to strike the earth with disastrous results at the latter end of last month, and judging by the description given below, must have been perilously close. Our exchanges the Kuranda make no reference whatsoever to the matter, so it appears not to have been a subject of general observation. So far as we can learn the only person in the district fortunate enough to witness the astral body in all its glory were the Misses Hasenkamp, one of whom (Miss Dora) has kindly written the following description for the 'Record.'
At about 3.30am on the 31st March (Easter Sunday morning) I was awakened by my sister Florry calling me to get up and look at the comet.
I arose and saw in the eastern sky a large dazzling bright star which appeared to be as large as a football. Its brilliant light dazzled my eyes for a few seconds. When I looked again it had thousands of small glittering spikes of silvery light, and on the top right hand side of it, a long rod resembling the flame of a candle-light, about two foot in length, appeared with another tail in the shape of a half-circle - which faced down towards the earth - attached to it.
The circle shaped rod had a couple of lights like red hot coals. I was looking at the comet for about a quarter of an hour when it gradually faded away into the sky, and the atmosphere became very cold. The comet again appeared shining as before, the lights on the lower rods getting fainter.
The moon was shining bright all the time and had three black spots on it. The comet was moving very slowly and appeared to be going in the direction of the moon. I watched for about another half hour and then it disappeared altogether. It was the most brilliant sight I ever saw."
What was it?
In looking to identify this "comet,"Aubeck and Shough wrote:
"The interesting and perhaps educative thing about this case is that at the time reported the planet Venus, with a respectable magnitude -3.6 had just risen over the eastern horizon and would have been a prominent sight in the pre-dawn sky, just where the strange object was. The moon was bright, as stated, approximately full and about 30 degrees west of the zenith; and Venus climbing on its normal motion along the ecliptic would have progressed "very slowly in the direction of the moon" until it faded in the daylight. So it is hard not to conclude that Venus was the culprit in this case, and the peculiar structures of rods and red lights must have been an illusion caused by glare or some sort of
ocular or instrumental defect."
Just checking
1. Port Douglas, is north at Cairns, Queensland at latitude 16.5 degrees south; longitude 145.5 degrees east.
2. On the 31 March 1907, sunrise that morning was at 0623 hours. Therefore the start of the 45 minute observation, was almost three hours before sunrise.
3. A check using an electronic sky chart reveals that the Sun was about 41 degrees below the eastern horizon at the time; the moon was at 53 degrees elevation, azimuth 18 degrees north of west; and Venus was on the horizon rising at azimuth 13 degrees south of east.
4. Interestingly, the witnesses did not report seeing both the planet Venus and a "comet."
5. There are some oddities in the account. What are we to make of the observer's description that "The moon was shining bright and had three black spots on it?" It's a pity that we have no idea as to whether or not Dora had been prescribed spectacles, and whether or not she was wearing them at the time.
6. Were the Hasenkamps historical figures?
A search of TROVE electronic newspapers revealed two article mentioning them.
a. Page 4 of the "Townsville Daily Bulletin" dated Tuesday 30 November 1926 stated that a Dora Hasenkamp managed the central Hotel in Port Douglas and indicated that she "...has been in Port Douglas for some time."
b. Page 11 of the "Cairns Post" [Qld:1909-1954] dated 25 May 1933 referenced a Miss Dora Hasenkamp and her sister Flo, who were both included in a wedding party.
Therefore, it would seem that they were historical figures, and that there is not reason to suspect that the letter to the editor is not genuine.
7. I could not locate any weather details for Port Douglas for 31 March 1907.
8. The original account appears to have come from a newspaper named "Port Douglas 'Record." The TROVE collection doesn't have issues of this newspaper.
9. Are there any other local references to comets, that would explain why the 16 April 1907 article referred to what was seen, on 31 March 1907, as "A very brilliant comet?" Indeed there are.
a. On page 3 of the "Morning Post" Cairns, paper dated 27 February 1907, there is a short piece about an approaching comet, citing a Professor Matteuci who "...declares that about the end of March...the comet...will come in contact with the earth's atmosphere, causing some damage."
b. Further discussions about this comet appear on page 6 of the "Morning Post" Cairns dated 11 March 1907; and page 4 of the 22 March 1907 edition of the same paper.
It would appear reasonable, given these three articles about a comet; for the editor of the "Morning Post" Cairns, on the 16 April 1907, to suppose Miss Hasenkamp's observation was that of a "comet."
10. In conclusion, given all of the above information, I support Aubeck's and Shough's view that what was seen was most likely the planet Venus.
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