Foo-Fighters-electrical phenomena

Toronto, Ontario "GLOBE AND MAIL", January 3, 1945, page 13, by HOWARD W. BLAKESLEY

New York, January 2. (AP) - The description of the new German fu-fighters, or fireballs, fits into several well-known electrical phenomena.

These are induction, ball lightning, and some, but not all, aspects of St. Elmo's Fire. If they are electric, it is something created in the air near the planes, and not something firing, for example, artillery shells or something that flies in the air waiting for the planes.

The induction is prompted by reports that the fu-fires do not lag behind the aircraft at fixed distances, regardless of the speed of the aircraft, changes in speed or changes in direction.

Only some kind of electrical induction could explain such a wonderful synchronization.

However, induction cannot fully describe what happens when a fireball flies up, leaving its plane.

A common experience that resembles this trick is ball lightning. How someone could produce a ball lightning is unknown. It is also unknown what exactly a ball lightning can be. But this is a completely harmless thing.

The St. Elmo's Fire is a brush discharge of static electricity that flows with bright intensity from a solid object. Aviators are familiar with brush discharges and recognize them, so the fu balls are probably not the usual St. Elmo's fire.

Based on experience, the cause of these noises is interference on the radar, radio or, possibly, can lead to the ignition of the aircraft. Interference from the ignition would have stopped the plane in the air. Before the war, this was a real project in Italy, and here, theoretically, they knew well how to implement it. All you needed then to stop the plane five or more miles away from you was a power plant equal to Niagara Falls.

It can be assumed that "Foo-Fighters" is evidence that German scientists have found a way to partially bypass power problems with interference. The fact that they use them and thus reveal their secrets to allies indicates that they do not hope to achieve the power of ignition interference.