the craft in an effort to assist the downed pilot. The pilot's
body was hanging out of the broken cockpit and the craft was
engulfed in blue flames of fire. X glimpsed the still hissing
jet engine before everything was swallowed in flames.
What can be gleaned from this account? Mr. X certainly saw a
German flying disc. But the "smell of ethyl alcohol" and the
"blue fames of fire" set this engine apart from any so far
described. German jet engines ran on jet fuel, a light oil
something similar to kerosene. The Walter rocket engines ran of
very exotic hypergolic fuels which burst into flames
automatically once they made contact with each other. Ethyl
alcohol is the alcohol of fermentation as, for instance, potatoes
are fermented and distilled into vodka. Ethyl alcohol is not the
best substance for aircraft fuel since it is low calories by
weight and volume in comparison with the other fuels mentioned.
The advantage of alcohol for the shortage plagued Germans was
that it was available. Ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen were
exactly the fuels which powered the V-2 rocket developed at
nearby Peenemuende.
Given this report, we have a reason to consider Peenemuende as a
German site which produced flying discs. But before proceeding
with our inquiry as before we must take a step back from our
strictly detailed survey of German flying saucers in order to get
better perspective of this overall body of information.
To this point any reader somewhat familiar with German flying
discs might find the level of detail and proof enlightening but
might feel that the basic story is known and has already been
told. These readers will be pleasantly surprised by this chapter
of our story. Not only is new evidence presented here but a new
interpretation of existing evidence sheds a whole new light upon
the study of German flying discs.
This new evidence and this new way of looking at things are
primarily the result of the input of German aeronautical
investigator Klaus-Peter Rothkugel. Within the last year or so
he has proposed to me and to another investigator, Heiner
Gehring, ideas which were previously overlooked. Mr. Rothkugel
has investigated and documented his ideas to both of us and has
convinced us of their merit. In turn, both Mr. Gehring and
myself have spent some time and effort in advancing this research
ourselves and sharing the results. These researchers have
published their findings in Germany and have allowed me to make
use of these ideas here.
The careful reader will note that mention has already been made
of Mr. Rothkugel and his contributions. In this section some of
the ideas which he first put forth will be examined as will hie
emphasis on the overall organization and understanding of the
material.
It was Vesco who first gave us an explanation of foo fighters.
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