The strange “flying discs” discovered during World War II

UFOs have been given different names over the years, depending on the era and the description of the object. “Ghost Airships” appeared in the second half of the 19th century. Pilots were introduced to what became known as “Foo Fighters” during World War II. In 1946, stories of “Ghost Rockets” flooded the skies of Scandinavia. The phrases “flying saucer” and “flying disc” were used in the summer of 1947. People today talk about “flying triangles.”
Yes, during World War II the name “Foo Fighter” was commonly used to describe what was witnessed. However, during the war with the Nazis, the word “Disco” was also used. When I relayed this to a specific UFO researcher recently, he completely caved.
He told me that he was wrong and added that the term “Disco” was not coined until 1947 in reference to mysterious “objects” in the sky. As I already said, this is incorrect. Of course, many people, even within ufology, may be unaware of how often the term “Disco” was used during World War II. I will give you two examples, but there are many more.
The following is from the internal bulletin of 115 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force, from the latter part of World War II (exact year unknown): “Under this heading, accounts of strange and magnificent apparitions observed during our (and American ) ) air raids in Germany appear from time to time. We’ve asked a member of our local Inner Circle what he thinks about the current incarnation of magic. “Believe it or not, this is his story.”
“On December 11, the Yankees went on one of their daytime excursions to Emden,” the newspaper adds, somewhat jokingly. The weather was clear and visibility was excellent. In the target region, an unidentifiable item was detected. It was the size of a Thunderbolt and flew 50 to 75 yards below the formation.
It flew in a straight and level line (no folks, it wasn’t a Lanc. gone crazy…) at incredible speeds, leaving a vapor trail that lingered for a long time. The thing moved so fast that the observer couldn’t get a better idea of what it was.

“Serious… suggestions… as to what this Emden Loch Ness Monster might have been are welcome,” the document concludes. (If the publication lasts that long, the prize is a free edition of our Newsletter for a year.) Another of the attacking planes was hit by a piece of wire that went through the nose.
Something wrapped twenty feet around the nose and the bomb door opened. The cable could have been thrown behind a fighter that had just launched an assault on the bomber, or it could have been related to a parachute being fired from a rocket shell, although no parachute was observed. The cable is currently being examined in the hope of providing more information about the incident.
There were several reports of silver and red disks over the formations [my italics]’ in another attack, this time in Bremen. These have been observed before, but no one has been able to figure out what they are for. Please provide suggestions.”
Then there is a document sent to Colonel Kingman Douglas, RAF Intelligence Wing Commander Smith and British Air Ministry Wing Commander Heath. They have told us:
“Annex to the intelligence report of the Schweinfurt mission, October 16, 1943. On the panel of the cabin of A/C number 412, according to Group 306, a partially unexploded 20 mm projectile was found with the following figures, 19K43. The steel of the shell, according to the Group Ordinance Officer, is of poor quality. Near Schweinfurt, Group 348 reports a group of discs [my italics] in the path of the formation; no E/A [Author’s Note: Enemy Aircraft] at the moment.
The discs were characterized as silver in color, one inch thick, and three inches in diameter [again, emphasis mine]. They were floating in a fairly regular pattern. A/C 026 was unable to avoid them and its right wing crashed into the group, causing little damage to the engines or the aircraft’s surface. One of the disks [again…] hit the tail assembly, but there was no explosion.
A number of black debris in 3-by-4-foot clusters about twenty feet of these disks [and one more]. Two more air conditioners were also seen flying through silver discs with no apparent damage. I saw disks [the last one] and debris two more times, but I couldn’t figure out where it came from.”

These are just two of several World War II documents referring to UFOs as “Discs” several years before the British government used the term “Flying Disc” in 1947. “Discs” were characterized as having only a few few inches in size in some of the declassified wartime files. However, in other cases, pilots reported “Discs” that were several feet in diameter, and in some cases considerably larger.
While we’re on the subject of names, it’s worth mentioning that the phrase “Unidentified Flying Objects” was first used just two months after the Kenneth Arnold encounter on June 24, 1947. Many people were thinking ” Frisbee” and “Flying Saucer” at the time. The relevant document is dated August 1947 and comes from the US Air Transport Command’s Weekly Intelligence Summary.
“Unidentified flying objects [my italics…again…] have been sighted by three enlisted soldiers of the 147th Air and Air Communications Services Squadron at Harmon Field, Guam,” according to the text.
You can find the document online in the UFO section of the FBI website, The Vault.

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