Ghost Rockets
1946 wave of rocket-shaped object sightings over Scandinavia
| Ghost Rockets | |
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| Date | 1946 (peak: May–August) |
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| Location | Sweden and broader Scandinavia |
| Type | Sighting wave |
| Status | Mostly misidentification |
Sweden and neighboring countries experienced over 2,000 reports of fast-moving, missile- or rocket-shaped objects, some reportedly trailing smoke, in the year immediately following World War II and predating the American “flying saucer” wave.
Assessment
Swedish military investigators at the time, and later historians, attributed the large majority of sightings to meteors (the wave coincided with a period of heightened meteor activity) along with genuine anxiety-driven observation of early Soviet V-2-derived missile testing near the Baltic, of which the German rocket program’s postwar technology transfer to the USSR was a known contemporary concern. A small residue of well-documented radar-visual cases were never conclusively explained.
[1]See also
References
- ^ Swedish Defence Staff, Ghost Rocket investigation summary, 1946 (partially declassified).