USOS- Zusammengefasst! Eine Chronologie, näher betrachtet
25.08.2012 um 15:18
Zwei interessante Vorfälle zum Zeitpunkt des zweiten Weltkrieges:
Five years before Roswell, during World War II, a Bristol Beaufighter of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) clashed with a UFO over the Bass Strait, south of Melbourne, Australia. Here is the pilot's own account:
"We had orders not long after the Japanese attack on Darwin (on February 19, 1942--J.T.) to patrol the Bass Strait where fishermen had reported seeing mysterious lights on the sea at night."
(Editor's Note: The Allied high command thought the lights might be from long-range German U-boats or Japanese I-class submarines.)
"At 5:50 p.m. of a lovely sunny (February) evening, we were flying some miles east of the Tasman Peninsula when, of a sudden, there came out of a cloud bank, a singular airfoil of a glistening bronze color."
"I'd say it was around 150 feet long and about 50 feet in diameter. It had a sort of beak at its prow, and the surface seemed burled or rippled or fluted. On its upper surface was a dome or cupola, from which I seemed to see reflected flashes as the sun struck something, which might or might not have been a helmet, worn by something inside."
At this point, the pilot, Lt. William Brennan, took his Beaufighter in for a closer look.
"Every now and again there came from its keel greenish-blue flashes. It turned at a small angle towards us, and I was amazed to see, framed in a white circle on the front of the dome, an image of a large, grinning Cheshire cat."
(Editor's Comment: Cartoon "nose art" was common on warplanes of World War II. It seems that the UFOnauts had gotten into the spirit of the times.)
"The damn thing flew parallel to us for some minutes, then it abruptly turned away and, as it did so, it showed four things like fins on its belly- side. It went off at a hell of a pace, turned and dived straight down into the Pacific, and went under, throwing up a regular whirlpool of waves! Just as if it had been a submarine. No, the Japs had nothing in the amphibian line like that mysterious bird." (See FLYING SAUCERS UNCENSORED by Harold T. Wilkins, Citadel Press, New York, NY 1955, pages 224-255.)
The most detailed of these cases involved a large UFO seen in 1945 by crew members of the U.S. Army Transport Delarof which had been hauling munitions and supplies to Alaska. The reporting witness, recently interviewed, was Robert S. Crawford, now a consulting geologist with the Indiana Soil Testing Laboratory, Griffith, Ind. Crawford is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and while at the college, he reported the sighting to Prof. N. N. Kohanowski, Dept. of Geology, who is a NICAP adviser. In 1967, Mr. Crawford was interviewed by Dr. James E. McDonald, a scientist at the University of Arizona, who under a university grant has personally investigated numerous UFO reports.
The Delarof incident occurred in the summer of 1945 while Crawford was serving as one of the Army radiomen aboard. The ship, heading back to Seattle, was in the open sea past Adak. It was about sunset, and Crawford was on the port side near the radio room when he heard shouts from some of the crew. He turned and saw a large, round object which had just emerged from the sea. (Several crewmen saw the UFO actually appear from underwater, an estimated mile or so from the Delarof.)
The unknown craft, showing darkly against the setting sun, climbed almost straight up for a few moments, then it arced into level flight, and began to circle the ship. All the observers were convinced it was a large object. Comparing it with the width of a finger held out at arm's length, Crawford estimated the UFO to be 150 to 250 feet in diameter.
As it circled the Delarof, the flying object was in easy range of the ship's guns. But the gun crews held their fire, though on the alert for any sign of hostility.
The UFO circled the vessel two or three times, moving smoothly and with no audible sound. All the witnesses felt it was self-propelled; otherwise, the strong winds would have visibly affected its movements.
After several minutes, the flying object disappeared to the south or south-southwest. Suddenly the crew saw three flashes of light from the area where it had vanished. The Delarof captain posted an extra watch as the ship moved through that sector later, but nothing was seen.
At Seattle, 14 crewmen signed a summary of the sighting. Attempts are being made to locate the report, mainly so as to interrogate other witnesses and perhaps learn more details.
This reference: UFO Investigator, a NICAP publication, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 4, (March 1968), and various letters sent to governmental departments in reference to the case. With thanks to the Donald E. Keyhoe Archives for this material.
