Case file · Sighting
Palembang foo fighter
During a B-29 night raid on the oil refineries at Palembang, Sumatra, in August 1944, a US crew reported a glowing sphere that paced their bomber for several minutes.
1944 CE · -2.99, 104.76 · status: account
The account
The report, attributed to Captain Alvah Reida's crew on 10–11 August 1944, is one of the classic Pacific 'foo fighter' accounts: a red or orange ball of light that held station off the wing, then climbed away at high speed. Similar lights were logged by Allied and Axis crews in Europe and the Pacific.
The sceptical view
Wartime foo fighters have been explained variously as St Elmo's fire, flares, reflections and combat stress; no physical evidence survives.