DOW-UAP-D099, Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947

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Copy No. 597

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2 OJAN 1~47
INTELLIGENCE DIVISION, WDGS/ ==~-=---

WAR DEPARTMENT • WASHINGTON, D. C.
DECLASSIFIED
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CONTENTS
Page

WORLD IN Hl~V n:w

1

"GHOST HOCKTGTS" OVl~H RC 'ANDTNAVIA______

REC'ONSTI'J'UTJON 01 '1'111
1'

TOHJ AL AHMY...

1:

17

BJU'J'ISII TERRI_________ ______ 21

UNJTgD NATIONS TIU], "l'lt!bSillP ____ _________

27

MILITARY IMPLI< A'l'l<>NH 01◄' SOVIET FOR-

EIGN POLJCY l>UHI 'n HIHi

GUIDED MIRHILI~ ('OUN'J

___ ____ _______ 41
UJn;s _______ 50

WORLD-WJDJ~ D11~VrnLOP.Ml 1,N'l' 01~ 'L'HE MAGNETIC AMPLlJt'll~lt....

________ _ 56

SIGNIFICANT PJ1}HSONA1,1'1'1 l~S.

63

CALENDAR OF FORTH( O~tJNO ,~vrnN'l'S______ _ 64

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FEATURE SECTION
"GHOST ROCKETS" OVER
SCANDINAVIA
Flying missiles were first reported over southern Sweden in
late May 1946 by the press, which gave the missiles the name
of "Ghost Rockets." In June, the missiles also had been
reported over Finland and Denmark. By July, the number of
sightings over Sweden had greatly increased, and several also
had been reported over Norway. The great majority of these
reports were made by untrained observers and, as would be
expected, varied widely in the description of the actual
missiles as well as, of their course, altitude, and speed.
Descriptions of the Missile
The two most common descriptions of the missiles were
"a ball of fire with a tail" and a "shiny cigar-shaped object."
The reported direction of flight covered all points of the
compass, with a northerly direction being slightly predominant. Variations in altitude ranged from treetop height
to 160,000 feet, the higher altitudes almost exclusively being
reported from Finland. Speeds reported were from 65 m. p. h.
to ''lightning fast," with the majority described as having
great or very great speed. The missiles generally have been
described in horizontal flight; a few have been reported as
diving into the ground or into lakes, or exploding in the air.
In no case have fragments been found other than bits of
material described as "nonmetallic slag."
One of the few reports available from an individual who
should be more reliable and competent than the average
-8:ECM'f

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GHOST ROCKETS

..sBORB'F

layman is that of a Swedish Air Force pilot. On 14 August,
at 1000 hours, he was flying at 650 feet over central Sweden
when he saw a dark, cigar-shaped object about 50 feet long
and 3 feet in diameter flying 200 feet above and approximately 6,500 feet away from him at an estimated speed of
400 m. p. h. The missile had no visible wings, rudder, or
other projecting part; and there was no indication of any
flame or Jight as has been reported in the majority of other
sightings. His report states that the missile was maintaining
a constant altitude over the ground and, consequently, was
following the large features of the terrain. The last statement casts doubt on the reliability of the entire report because of the inability of a missile, without wings, to maintain
a constant altitude over hilly terrain. However, the pilot
does imply that there may have been wings which he was
unable to see, because he stated that it could not have been
a Swedish jet plane as there was none flying in the vicinity
at that time.
The Scandinavian press, with the exception of the Communist papers, initially reported the incidents in some detail
and openly attributed them to missiles fired by the U. S. S. R.
In August, a partial censorship was imposed on the press,
restricting the publication of exact details or localities where
missiles were seen. The Communist press has continued to
ridicule the entire matter and claims that there was no basis
for the reports that the missiles were of Soviet origin. In
fact, a charge was made that they came from the United
States and that Gen. Doolittle was sent over to observe the
effects of the missiles I

Official Investigations
Official investigations of these reports were begun by the
Swedish authorities in June. The Defense Staff requested
the public to report any unusual observations, and by the
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GHOST ROCKETS

end of July almost 1,000 such reports had been received.
The investigation has been carried out by the Swedish
Defense Staff in a very peculiar manner. In the beginning,
many of the key personnel were on summer leave, and they
were not recalled to deal with the problem. Spokesmen
for the Defense Staff repeatedly have told the United States
Military Attache that they definitely believed there were
rockets over Sweden, and that they were launched by the
Soviets from Peenemtinde on the German Baltic coast.
However, they have not been able to produce any evidence
to support these statements. To date, no United States
military or naval personnel in Sweden have seen any fragments, points of impact, or other direct evidence to prove
that guided missiles have appeared over Sweden.
The official communiques issued to the press by the
Defense Staff have not reflected the same tone as the statements made by individual officers in conversations. In fact,
the communiques themselves have varied. The last one,
issued on 10 October, very strongly indicated that the great
majority of the reported incidents were of celestial origin,
which is a complete change from the one of 6 August when
it was reported that, except in a few cases, they could not be
meteorites.*

Attitude of Swedish Officials
To arrive at any definite conclusion from the conflicting
evidence available on these reported missiles is impossible.
The contradictory attitude of Swedish officialdom would
tend to indicate that it was doing very little to arrive at a
definite conclusion, perhaps for political purposes. The complete change in attitude between the communiques issued on
* In September and October, flying objects were reported over widely separate
points in Europe and Africa, including Belgium, Greece, Italy, Morocco, and
Austria. In the main, these reports have not been confirmed and appear to be
due to explainable ca.uses, such as meteors or Very flares, fireworks, etc.

BEGRJBT

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8:SORR1'

6 August and IO October indicates that the Swedish Staff
was trying to minimize the entire matter which had grown
to such a size that the Staff was afraid of its having official
repercussions on Swedish-Soviet relations.

Conclusions
The Soviets are known to be working on various guided
missiles. They have the ability to produce, and probably
have tested, missiles of the V-1 type. Without warheads
and with slightly improved motors, these missiles could
have a range of 500 miles, and are the only available German
missiles believed capable of horizontal flight at low altitudes.
There is some evidence that such work has been carried out
at Stolp (in Polish-administered Germany) or on the Baltic
islands of Oesel or Dago. Three of the people reporting
sightings have mentioned the noise of an outboard motor,
a characteristic of the impulse duct motor used on the V-1
by the Germans; and one of them stated that what he saw
looked like the V-1 he had seen over London during the war.
Others have reported little or no sound, a condition which
may indicate the use of a turbo-jet instead of a pulse-jet.
The best evidence, at present, is that there have been only
2 or 3 real incidents, perhaps as many as 5 or 10, of low-flying
missiles of the V-1 type. The high-altitude missiles reported
seem definitely to have been meteors or fireworks. The
Swedish Defense Staff probably has taken advantage of the
situation for political purposes and allowed the newspapers
to make a big story out of the missiles, without admitting
that the Staff had any evidence to indicate that there actually
were any such missiles. This was done at a time when the
Swedish public was demanding reductions in defense expenditures.

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Notice
Tiu inulliqenu cm1tainr.,l in tM• report lias bun pro­

duced by th4 l11t,•lliyc11cc lJit>isi,m as a result of careful
reaearch and a,,alyai, of informatioo received from
all eourcea. A "11 rW(_'6r posseuinq information which
appear, w mt>di'fy or contradict the intelligence containt-d Mrtin i, requested to forward it promplly to:
Director of Intelligence,
WDGS, War Department,
Washingtoo S5, D. C.
Communiootions should refer to this publicatioo, set-ting forth item and page to which reference is made. In
reporting informatioo, the cootrfbutor should identify
and evaluate his sources and give the dates of incidents
mentiooed.

DISTRIBUTION
U8FET...................... 11 IADB....................... 1 U8MA.-.................... S
MTOUSA.................... g 08W.......... .............. 1 080......................... 10
OINCFE.................... 12 OU8W....................... 1 IOAF........................ 2
PBILRYCOM.............. 2 OA8W....................... 1 NWO........................ 12
MARBO.................... l 008......................... 1 AF80. ...................... 6
AOFPAO................... 8 PAD......................... 3 Al8.......................... 2
Army Adv Op China........ 2 OTD........................ 2 Nav War Col................ 1
Pelplnc Bqs Op............. 2 88PD........................ 1 ONI......................... 22
USF., Austria............... 2 POD......................... II ClnOLantFlt................ 1
AOC, Bulgaria............... 2 RDD........................ l ComNavEu.................. 1
AOC, Hungary.............. l OAD........................ • ComNavMed................ 1
AOC, Rumanta.............. 1 Hlsl Div..................... 1 ComSoLantFor.............. 1
OMO, Oermany............. 18 OOOW8..................... 11 ClnOPacFlt................. 1
ODO . ...................... 2 OQMO...................... 3 ComNavJap................. l
POD.························ 3 00s1,o...................... 7 ComFtrstTaskFlt......... .. l
Ant. Dopt................... l OOE......................... 1 ComNavWesPac............. 1
OINOAL.................... l 000......................... 12 USMC........................ 29
AIL~kan Dept................ 2 OCT......................... 6 FMFPAO................... 1
M Al. . . ... ................... 68 080......................... 1 State Dept................... 16
White Bouse................. 2 OTIO........................ 1 SWNOO..................... l
010 ........................ 12 MDW....................... 2 FBI.......................... 8
118 ......................... 2 A.AF......................... lil ID........................... 129
JSO.......................... l
Add A.AFPAO L........
JWPO....................... l A.OF......................... 67

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