applies to his Kugelblitz (15). Turtle or tortoise is
"Schildkroete" in German. Sometimes this device is referred to
as a "flying turtle" in both languages. With so many writers
using this term for flying craft which are apparently not all
similar, there exists a certain amount of confusion about this
name, "Schildkroete". Therefore, this saucer does not seem to
fit neatly into any previously described saucer type. Perhaps
this flying turtle is only another name for the Fireball or foofighter which seems to be the consensus among German writers,
other writers seem to associate this word with a larger craft so
perhaps this type of saucer is closer to what Vesco described as
the Kugelblitz. "Schildkroete" seemed so nebulous that for many
years this writer refused to accept the term at all.
This all changed when it was uncovered that the Germans were
actually developing a flying weapon code-named Schildkroete. This
researcher as well as another researchers have found references
to an offensive air weapon, called by the Germans,
"Schildkroete", and known to American intelligence. The exact
nature of this device is, however, still kept secret. The
government is uncooperative, even when presented with their own
words on the subject and copies of their own reports. For
instance in a Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee
interrogation of Albert Speer, Reichminister of Armaments And War
Production, report 53(b), Speer is specifically asked about
"Schildkroete". Only Speer's reply is retained in the record,
not the actual question. Line number 20 of that interrogation
quoted here as the document from microfilm is difficult to read:
" 20.
Schildkroete he was not sure about, but he thought is
might, conceivably be a jet fighter. "
By the time Schildkroete had come about, Speer had lost much of
h i s standing and duties to officials of the SS. In this same set
of interrogations Speer deferred a question concerning V-weapons
to Dr. Hans Kammler as the one the Allies should seek as the
expert. Speer was the only one raising Kammler's name. There
was no follow-up questioning by the Allied interrogators. It was
almost as if Speer had uttered an obscenity, invoking the "K"
word, which was a word simply too hot to be touched in that
setting.
The next Allied reference to Schildkroete comes from the Combined
Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee, Evaluation Report 40,
titled "Sonderausschus A-4". Sonderausschus was an organization
whose job it was to prioritize resources toward projects most
needed to defend the Reich. These high priority programs were
the Vierjahresplan, Vulkanprogramm, Jaegerprogramm, Lokprogramm,
and the Notprogramm. Each had projects within these headings.
Even though under pressure of law in the form of a request under
t h e auspices of the Freedom Of Information Act, the Federal
Government of the United States of America has responded with a
"No Record" when asked for their files on some of these programs.
This is true even when confronted with their own documents naming
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