| In the 1938 comic strip Smokey Stover, a | | | | vessel for over an hour. Although a few |
| firefighter was known for his line, | | | | baffled pilots attempted to intercept, |
| "Where there's foo, there's fire." From | | | | and even fire upon the globes, their |
| Smokey, aircraft pilots borrowed the | | | | efforts were unsuccessful, and the |
| term "foo fire" to describe the various | | | | objects usually zoomed away of their own |
| unexplainable phenomenon seen in the | | | | accord. |
| skies over Europe and the Pacific | | | | Foo fighters were mentioned in the |
| theatre during World War II. While | | | | American mass media. Ponderous articles |
| Allied pilots initially thought the | | | | appeared in Time and Newsweek in 1945, |
| flying objects were German secret or | | | | contributing to the wave of UFO |
| psychological weapons, after the war it | | | | consciousness building in the US. By |
| was discovered that sightings were also | | | | 1952 so many civilians were contacting |
| reported by the enemy, who had assumed | | | | government agencies regarding UFO |
| the crafts were US-made. To this day, | | | | reports that regular intelligence work |
| the sightings remain a mystery. | | | | was being affected. |
| Over the course of the war, fireballs, | | | | While scientists have never been able to |
| estimated to be as big as 300 feet and | | | | explain the phenomenon, many |
| as small as 1 foot in diameter, were | | | | speculations have been advanced as |
| reported and thoroughly documented. | | | | possibilities. Five of the most |
| These apparitions left witnesses | | | | plausible theories are: |
| awe-inspired, wary, and | | | | 1. The fireballs may be nothing more |
| frightened-although the foo fighters | | | | than St. Elmo's Fire, a reddish |
| never harmed or attempted to harm | | | | brush-like discharge of atmospheric |
| anyone. The CIA was commissioned in 1952 | | | | electricity which has often been seen |
| to study the reports and concluded that | | | | near the tips of church steeples, ships' |
| while mysterious, foo fighters were not | | | | masts and yardarms. It also appears at a |
| a considered a threat to national | | | | plane's wing tips. |
| security. | | | | 2. They may have been optical illusions, |
| A Foo fighter is an umbrella term that | | | | mere after-images of light remaining in |
| includes flying objects of various | | | | pilots' eyes after being dazzled by flak |
| shapes and sizes. Wobbling, or vibrating | | | | bursts. |
| flares were described as glowing globes | | | | 3. Occurrences may have been the rare |
| of intense green, yellow, red, orange, | | | | effect of "ball lightning," a glowing, |
| or white lights. One crew even reported | | | | drifting bubble of light typically eight |
| observing the phosphorescent spheres | | | | inches in diameter. These generally, |
| going through a sequence of color | | | | though not always, follow regular |
| changes at regular intervals. Other | | | | lightning strikes. |
| reports describe them as silver or gold | | | | 4. Bright ground objects reflected from |
| metallic, and disk-shaped. They | | | | the curved plastic canopy of an aircraft |
| frequently appeared at the wing tips of | | | | can be perceived as images above the |
| planes in pairs or alone, although | | | | horizon. |
| sometimes they were found in larger | | | | 5. Proponents of the extraterrestrial |
| clusters of fifteen or more. In one | | | | hypothesis (ETH) have suggested that foo |
| report 150 objects were estimated to be | | | | fighters are hard evidence of ETs |
| arranged in 10-12 lines. Picking up an | | | | visiting earth. |
| aircraft, these blobs of fire could | | | | Foo fighters are certainly some of the |
| reportedly pace a plane at very high | | | | best documented reports of UFOs, and |
| speeds through extensive evasive | | | | photographs and respected testimony |
| maneuvers for several minutes. One | | | | abound. Hopefully in time the mystery |
| British officer and his crew of sailors | | | | will be solved, and this comic book name |
| tracked an object from the deck of their | | | | will be replaced by its true name. |