What were the foo fighters?
Foo fighters were unidentified balls of light seen by Allied pilots on the European and Pacific fronts in 1944–1945, near the end of World War II. Spheres glowing red, white or orange were reported to fly close to bombers and fighters on night missions, as if tailing them, and to make sudden turns.
Where the name comes from
The name “foo fighter” is said to have been coined by pilots after the catchphrase of a comic strip popular in America at the time, “Where there’s foo, there’s fire.” It later became the name of an American rock band.
What were the foo fighters really?
At the time they were suspected of being new German or Japanese weapons, but postwar investigations found no evidence that they were Axis weapons. Explanations include St. Elmo’s fire (an electrical discharge that forms on the tips of aircraft and the like), ball lightning, and flares or stars mistaken for something else. They foreshadowed the postwar UFO boom; see also the Haunebu legend.
