Case file · Sighting
The phantom French bombers over Nuremberg
On 2 August 1914, German papers and the government reported French aircraft dropping bombs near Nuremberg; the claim appeared in Germany's declaration of war on France the next day.
1914 CE · 49.45, 11.08 · status: explained
The account
In the first days of August 1914 'enemy aviators' were reported all over Germany, and civilians fired at clouds, stars and their own planes. The Nuremberg bombing report became the most famous of these sightings.
The sceptical view
No bombs fell. Nuremberg officials denied any attack, and historians see it as war panic and propaganda: an early example of a sighting wave produced by expectation.