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Nazis' Newest Trick, ['Fire Balls,' Follow Or Precede PlanesBy the Associated Press.A UNITED STATES NIGHT FIGHTER BASE, Fiance. Jan. 2.— , American fighter pilots engaged in flying night intruder missions over Germany report the Nazis have come up with a new secret weapon”! i —mysterious balls of fire which race along beside their planes for miles like will-o’-the-wisps.Yank pilots have dubbed them foo fighters/’ and at first thought I they might explode, but so far there I is no indication that any planes have been damaged by them.Some pilots have expressed belief that the foo fighter was designed strictly as a psychological weapon.1 Intelligence reports seem to indicate it is radio-controlled from the ground and can keep pace with planes flying 300 miles per hour.Lt. Donald Meiers. Chicago, said there are three types of foo fighters—red balls of fire that fly along at wing tip; a vertical row of three balls of fire which fly in front of the planes, and a group of about 15 lights which follow the plane at a distance, flickering on and off.A ’foo-fighter’ picked me up recently at 700 feet and chased me 20 miles down the Rhine Valley, i Lt. 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 dove at 360 miles per hour. It kept right off our wing tips for awhile 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 don't explode or attack us. They just seem to follow us like will-o'-the-wisps.
Newspaper Details
Evening Star
Washington, Washington-DC, US
Tue, Jan 02, 1945
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Erik S.
USA 16 Jul 2022
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