The 415th Night Fighter Squadron Foo Fighters

In late November 1944, crews of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron began encountering mysterious glowing objects over the Rhine Valley. On one fateful night, Lieutenant Fred Ringwald spotted 8-10 orange objects moving at incredible speed near Strasbourg. When radar operator Lieutenant Donald J. Meiers returned to base, frustrated that his equipment showed nothing, he reportedly slammed down a Smokey Stover comic strip and exclaimed about “another one of those fuckin’ foo fighters.” The name stuck - and became the designation for one of World War II’s most enduring mysteries.

The Squadron

415th Night Fighter Squadron

Their mission:

• Night fighter operations
• Based in Occupied France
• Flying over Western Europe
• Protecting bomber formations
• Hunting enemy night fighters

Equipment

What they flew:

• P-61 Black Widow night fighters
• Advanced radar systems
• Trained radar operators
• State-of-the-art for 1944
• Built for night interception

The First Major Sighting

Late November 1944

The encounter:

• Near Strasbourg, Rhine Valley
• Night mission over Germany
• Multiple crew members involved
• Clear observation opportunity
• Changed everything

The Crew

Who was there:

• Lt. Ed Schlueter (pilot)
• Lt. Fred Ringwald (observer)
• Lt. Donald J. Meiers (radar)
• Experienced night fighters
• Trained observers all

What They Saw

The objects:

• 8-10 orange glowing spheres
• Moving at high speed
• Following their aircraft
• Executing impossible maneuvers
• No radar return

The Chase

Attempted Intercept

The crew’s response:

• Schlueter maneuvered to engage
• High-speed pursuit attempted
• Objects easily evaded
• Outperformed P-61
• Eventually disappeared

Radar Silence

The frustrating detail:

• Objects clearly visible
• Multiple witnesses
• But nothing on radar
• Meiers confirmed repeatedly
• Invisible to instruments

The Name Is Born

Back at Base

The famous moment:

• Mission debriefing
• Crew frustrated
• Meiers had Smokey Stover comic
• “Where there’s foo, there’s fire”
• Exclaimed about “foo fighters”

The Comic Strip

Smokey Stover context:

• Popular comic strip
• Firefighter character
• Nonsense word “foo” used throughout
• “Foo” meant nothing specific
• Perfect for something unexplained

The Name Spreads

How it caught on:

• Other crews adopted term
• Intelligence officers recorded it
• Became official designation
• Used in reports and debriefings
• Entered aviation history

November 27, 1944 Debrief

Official Documentation

What was recorded:

• Intelligence Officer Fritz Ringwald documented
• Meiers and Schlueter testimony
• Red ball of fire observed
• Appeared to chase aircraft
• High-speed maneuvers noted

Military Response

The reaction:

• Taken seriously
• Reports filed through channels
• No immediate explanation
• Not dismissed as hallucination
• Genuine concern raised

The Wave Begins

December 1944

Following the naming:

• Sightings multiplied
• Multiple crews reporting
• Consistent descriptions
• Night after night
• Pattern emerged

Common Elements

What crews described:

• Glowing spheres
• Various colors (orange, red, white)
• Formation flying capability
• Superior speed and maneuverability
• Never hostile

Official Response

SHAEF Press Release

December 13, 1944:

• Supreme Headquarters acknowledged
• Described as “new German weapon”
• Published in New York Times
• International attention
• Official recognition

Investigation

What was attempted:

• Intelligence analysis
• Comparison to known aircraft
• German weapons assessment
• No matches found
• Mystery deepened

German Perspective

After the War

Post-war discoveries:

• Germans had seen them too
• Luftwaffe pilots reported same
• No German secret weapon found
• Both sides mystified
• Neither created them

Ruling Out Explanations

What it wasn’t:

• Not German weapons (Germans saw them)
• Not Allied weapons (no program found)
• Not conventional aircraft
• Not flares or flak
• Something else entirely

The 415th’s Legacy

Documentation

What they contributed:

• First systematic reports
• Named the phenomenon
• Multiple crew testimonies
• Pattern recognition
• Historical record

January 1945 Report

Intelligence summary:

• 14 separate incidents documented
• December 1944 through January 1945
• Sent to XII Tactical Air Command
• Formal military record
• Unexplained throughout

Analysis

What Were They?

Theories considered:

• German secret weapons (ruled out)
• Natural phenomena (behavior too intelligent)
• Ball lightning (too persistent)
• Psychological (too consistent)
• Unknown technology

Behavior Patterns

What the objects did:

• Followed aircraft
• Maintained formation
• Executed sharp maneuvers
• Avoided interception
• Never attacked

The Question

Late November 1944. The Rhine Valley. War in the skies.

Three men in a P-61 Black Widow see something impossible.

8-10 orange balls of light. Moving fast. Moving with purpose. Following them through the night sky over Germany.

They chase. The lights evade. Radar shows nothing. But their eyes don’t lie.

Back at base, frustrated, Donald Meiers slams down a comic strip. Smokey Stover. “Where there’s foo, there’s fire.”

“Another one of those fuckin’ foo fighters!”

And just like that, a mystery has a name.

The 415th Night Fighter Squadron didn’t know it, but they had just named one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War II.

For the next six months, crews across Europe and the Pacific would see them. Glowing spheres. Orange and red and white. Following planes. Outmaneuvering the best pilots. Never attacking. Just… watching.

The Germans saw them too. The Japanese saw them. Everyone thought they were the enemy’s secret weapon.

They weren’t anyone’s weapon.

After the war, investigators searched captured facilities. Nothing. Scientists were interrogated. Nothing. No one had built the Foo Fighters.

No one could explain them.

The 415th Night Fighter Squadron.

They didn’t solve the mystery.

But they named it.

Foo Fighters.

Still glowing.

Still unexplained.

Eighty years later.

Still waiting for answers.