The “Original” Foo Fighter Photo – Is It “Real”?

ATS Team:

The phenomenon of “Foo Fighters” has arisen quite a bit during recent discussions on ATS.

Here is the photo that I suggest helps to form the basis for the “belief” of many people in this phenomenon.

It was purportedly taken ”in 1942, over the Pacific”

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/06ec261206c1.jpg[/atsimg]

www.ufocasebook.com...

I have pondered this picture for many years.

My question is, do you think the photo is “real”?

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not


[edit on 7-8-2010 by Maybe...maybe not]

well MMN
I'm not sure about the photo
but I believe the foo fighters
were real as too many American
Pilots witnessed them. Whether or
not they were alien in nature is a whole
different story.

This picture has been one of the old standys for a long time.It definately shows planes of the period....the grainy quality of the shot and the scale of the blobs look about right asd well....
Id say authentic on this one...its one of my faves as well......

reply to post by boondock-saint


Boondock-saint.....

The whole "Foo Fighter" thing is very interesting.

That's why I thought this classic photo was worthy of discussion.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not do you think the photo is “real”?

The image doesn't show a lot of detail ...

reminds me of Dodge and burn processing

a technique that increases or decreases the exposure for areas of the print.

Any material with varying degrees of opacity may be used to cover and/or obscure the desired area for burning or dodging

[edit on 8-8-2010 by Zeta Reticulan]

Originally posted by stirling
This picture has been one of the old standys for a long time.It definately shows planes of the period....the grainy quality of the shot and the scale of the blobs look about right asd well....
Id say authentic on this one...its one of my faves as well......

Stirling.....

Id say authentic on this one...its one of my faves as well

Yup.....it's a "fave"!

However as for authentic, on what do we really base that conclusion?

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Interesting photo, lets start dissecting it.

Do we know when and where it was exactly taken? We can start by trying to identify the aircraft in the image. My initial assumption is a 1930s era monoplane fighter or scout bomber given the landing gear and radial engine. Maybe Japanese?

Edit - I did some online research and it appears the aircraft are these:

en.wikipedia.org...

So maybe it was taken during the Sino-Japanese conflict?

[edit on 8-8-2010 by Turiddu]

I don;t think the photograph is American i believe it probably Japanese as I am pretty sure the Americans didn't have panes with the *spats* undercarriage left in that theatre .

The aircraft are probably one of these makes.

“Nate” – Single Seater Fighter, Nakajima 97, (Also Mitsubishi)

f8onpmu.devhub.com...

“Claude” – Single Seater Fighter, Mitsubishi 96


f8onpmu.devhub.com...


Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden (‘George’)

f8onpmu.devhub.com...


The only Allied aircraft that comes to mind would be the Curtis P36 Hawk but i can;t think of any examples with the *spats* covering the wheels.



www.military-aircraft.org.uk...

Very cool picture.

The above poster is right, it does not show a lot of detail.

But given the age, and the detail that IS there, it's certainly worthy of a in my book.

I'm actually not very familiar with "foo fighters." This is something I'm going to spend some time researching.

Thanks MMN.

My dad was a fighter pilot in WW2 and seen them himself over the pacific. He said they were like fire balls and they just followed them. The Japanese and Germans did not know what they were either. Funny how nobody fired on them im sure they realized it would be foolish not knowing what these things were capable of. As for the foo fighters being the Nazi's secret weapon i really cant see it simply because the foo fighters did not down any planes or disrupt the campaigns. What are they? I have no clue.

Originally posted by Zeta Reticulan

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not do you think the photo is “real”?

The image doesn't show a lot of detail ...

reminds me of Dodge and burn processing

increases or decreases the exposure for areas of the print

Zeta Reticulan.....

Does that mean you think the photo is a hoax?

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Originally posted by Zeta Reticulan

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not do you think the photo is “real”?

The image doesn't show a lot of detail ...

reminds me of Dodge and burn processing

a technique that increases or decreases the exposure for areas of the print.

Any material with varying degrees of opacity may be used to cover and/or obscure the desired area for burning or dodging

So if it is just a matter of dodging and burning, then what are the images
of the alleged foo fighter? Was that copy, paste and feather, then the dodge
and burn?

Not following you.

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not Does that mean you think the photo is a hoax?

It doesn't look right to me
it could be a photo manipulated

if not the film was damaged somehow

Some more photos
img818.imageshack.us...
img245.imageshack.us...
www.santafeghostandhistorytours.com...
www.satorws.com...
greyfalcon.us...
moreufo.com...


[edit on 8-8-2010 by Unknown Soldier]

reply to post by keepureye2thesky

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not



From source:

He last appeared in the dodgy US magazine UFO Universe where he was featured on the front page as having 'chased bogies at 20,000 feet,' (an astonishing spectacle no doubt!), but whilst the article gave details of UFOs he'd seen post-WWII, government film of UFOs, cover-ups, and you name it (along with mucho promotion for his many books, including UFO based novels) the Schweinfurt raid was never mentioned. Funny that, really.


Not Funny at all...hoax - the grass roots of this picture seems suspect and whether the photo is real or not, the primary individuals involved seemed to have NO recollection of the proposed incident during that raid.

How the hell do you NOT remember that..?

I suspect the photograph was taken by another pilot using their own camera, not one supplied by the JAF. Given it was wartime and Japan was critically short of just about everything , it's wholly possible the processing was done pretty crudely or that, the photograph was given to a family member or found on a crashed pilot. i suspect the photograph in circulation today could well be a photograph of the original.

Originally posted by Zeta Reticulan

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not Does that mean you think the photo is a hoax?

It doesn't look right to me

it could be a photo manipulated

if not the film was damaged somehow

that was my thought as well.
Since we're discussing this photo
could be a hoax, might want to
discuss HOW it was hoaxed as well.

Could it have not been possible for the
photographer who processed this film
to accidentally spill some Japanese Hot Tea
on them creating the splotches we see now?
They could be mistaken for specks on the
film since they are both somewhat a different
shape. Could we be really seeing tea drops
dropped on the film???

www.santafeghostandhistorytours.com...


There's a pretty comprehensive collection of Foo Fighter pictures here. Note how most of the Japanese examples are of a similar quality.

A simple internet search can end web pages of speculation:

www.ufoevidence.org...

...Two of them are seen here following Lysanders aircraft of the RAF during World War II in Europe.

I consider this photo genuine. I've come across it in UFO literature since the 70's, many UFO researchers/books have used it and sourced it.

Then remains the question, what does the photo portray?

If you think about it, the picture frame is centered between two aircraft. The photographer therefore did not intend to photograph any of them. The photo is centered at the two bright spots in between the aircraft. You can therefore deduce that the photographer intentionally photographed them, and reduces the possibility that this is just some type of reflection that appeared while photographing the aircraft.

Also, you see a bright, cloudy sky in the background, and two dark aircraft silhouettes. But the two unknown objects are brighter than the sky, indicating that they have an internal light source.