341_110448, USAFE Intelligence Items on Unidentified Aircraft and Flying Saucers, Nov. 4, 1948
- Date
- Sept. 5, 1948 sighting; message dated Nov. 4, 1948
- Location
- Off the west coast of Holland, 51°55′N 3°55′E (as stated)
- Agency
- Department of War
- Release
- Release 01 (May 8, 2026)
- Type
- document
Summary
A seven-page file of USAFE intelligence items dated Nov. 4, 1948, forwarded to Gen. Cabell with a caution that most were "forwarded as received." One reports three 307th Bomb Group crews at 30,000 feet off Holland at 1402Z on Sept. 5, 1948, seeing an aircraft that began leaving smoke and condensation trails with sudden acceleration and climb, which observers agreed was "a single jet propelled A/C employing probably rocket assists," never within identification range (evaluation B-2). Another (Top Secret) says a flying saucer was seen "hovering over Neubiberg Air Base for about thirty minutes," relays the Swedish Air Intelligence Service view that such objects may come from unknown technology "possibly outside the earth" after divers found an uncharted crater where one reportedly fell into a lake, and says USAFE is "inclined not to discredit entirely this somewhat spectacular theory"; the remaining pages cover a Soviet TU-2 radar interrogation and a radar-tube purchasing report.
Note
A 1948 USAFE item that took the off-world hypothesis seriously, relayed second-hand from Swedish intelligence.