Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947
- Date
- 2 Jan 1947
- Place
- Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway (Scandinavia)
- Record
- Pentagon file
- Assessment
- Not assessed
- Evidence strength
What was reported
A War Department General Staff Intelligence Review (Intelligence Division, WDGS) assessing the 1946 'Ghost Rocket' wave over Scandinavia, first reported over southern Sweden in May 1946 and spreading to Finland, Denmark and Norway. Describes the two most common descriptions (a ball of fire with a tail, or a shiny cigar-shaped object), a detailed firsthand account from a Swedish Air Force pilot who observed a dark, wingless cigar-shaped object near his aircraft, and the Swedish Defense Staff's shifting public communiques (from 'not meteorites' in August to mostly 'celestial origin' by October). The review's own conclusion assesses that a small number (perhaps 2-10) of the low-flying incidents were likely real Soviet V-1-type missile tests fired from Peenemunde, while the great majority of high-altitude reports were meteors or fireworks, and suggests Swedish officials exaggerated the matter publicly for political reasons amid defense-budget pressure.
What officials concluded
Tentative explanation
The review's own conclusion: the best evidence suggests only 2-10 real incidents of low-flying V-1-type missiles (likely Soviet tests of captured German technology from Peenemunde/Baltic sites), while the high-altitude majority of reports…
- Agency
- Department of War
- Released in
- 123456
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- Yes: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Why this rating The review is itself an intelligence analysis reaching a mostly-conventional-explanation conclusion (meteors/fireworks for most cases, and Soviet missile tests -- a known technology, not an anomaly -- for the small residual); the one detailed firsthand account (the pilot) is single-witness, visual-only, and the review itself flags internal inconsistency in the pilot's report.
As described in the file
- Witnesses
- A Swedish Air Force pilot (named source, identity not given in review), plus roughly 1,000 public reports collected by Swedish Defense Staff by end of July 1946
- Sensors
- Visual
- Shape
- Ball of fire with a tail, or shiny cigar-shaped object; the pilot's object was dark cigar-shaped, about 50 feet long, 3 feet in diameter
- Size
- Pilot's object: ~50 ft long x 3 ft diameter
- Lights and colour
- Described variously with flame or light on most reports; the pilot's object showed no visible flame or light
- Motion
- Reported speeds from 65 mph to 'lightning fast'; the pilot estimated 400 mph
- Altitude or range
- Altitudes from treetop height to 160,000 feet reported (higher altitudes mostly from Finland); pilot's object at roughly 200 feet above him, ~6,500 feet away, while he flew at 650 feet
- Effects
- Some objects reported diving into ground or lakes or exploding in air; no fragments recovered beyond unidentified 'nonmetallic slag'
Pentagon files
DOW-UAP-D099, Intelligence Review of “Ghost Rocket” Incidents, 1947
Open the original on war.gov
What the file claims
- Unverified
A Swedish Air Force pilot observed a dark, wingless, cigar-shaped object about 50 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, flying roughly 200 feet above and 6,500 feet away from him at an estimated 400 mph, showing no flame, light, or visible wings or rudder.
- Unverified
The War Department's own intelligence assessment concluded most Scandinavian ghost-rocket reports were misidentified meteors or fireworks, with a small handful likely representing genuine Soviet tests of captured German V-1-type missile technology.
- Unverified
The Swedish Defense Staff's public communiques shifted from stating in August 1946 that most incidents 'could not be meteorites' to stating in October 1946 that most were of 'celestial origin', a change the U.S. review attributed to Swedish political sensitivity toward the Soviet Union.
On the map
62.00° N, 15.00° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map