The battles of World War I have led to some interesting stories of paranormal encounters between the divine and otherworldly. One of the most interesting of these stories, is of a UFO which was reportedly shot down by German piloting ace Manfred von Richtofen, also known as the Red Baron.
According to reports, the Red Baron gained a reputation as the world’s greatest fighter pilot, having shot down 80 enemy aircraft in service for the Germans.
The Barons air superiority seemed unmatched by any human pilot, and it appears as though alien pilots may have also run into difficulty with the German ace.
The Red Baron Shoots Down A UFO
Legend has it, the Red Baron witnessed an Unidentified Flying Object which was described as “looking like an upside down silver saucer with orange lights”.
At just 25 years old, Manfred von Richtofen was flying a mission over Belgium early one morning in 1917, when he became aware of the mysterious craft. At first, he and his squadron had thought that the craft was some type of secretive project belonging to the US.
Alongside the Red Baron was the even younger German pilot Peter Waitzrick, who also witnessed the UFO. Waitzrick later claimed “We were terrified because we’d never seen anything like it before.”
The Red Baron immediately locked on to the UFO and opened fire. The craft descended rapidly, taking out numerous trees as it plummeted into the forest below as a giant ball of flames.
Peter Waitzrick went on to claim that two alien beings had managed to climb out of the downed craft and run off into the woods, never to be seen again.
The Waitzrick Account
According to Peter Waitzrick, he and the Red Baron both gave statements back at headquarters, and they were both told never to speak of the incident again. Waitzrick obliged, and just having told his wife and grand children, they managed to keep the story between them for 80 years. He eventually chose to share his story with the U.S. tabloid Weekly World News in 1999.
Waitzrick had no choice but to keep his story a secret. He began working for many years as a flight captain with German airline Lufthansa. Pilots were often prohibited from speaking about any possible encounters, so in order to protect his credibility and livelihood he wouldn’t have been able to open up about previous experiences.
The Major Discrepancy In Waitzrick’s Account
Some researchers have tried to discredit the story told by Peter Waitzrick as a fabrication, and because of one major problem.
According to Waitzrick, The Red Baron was flying the red triplane he has most become associated with, but it’s widely conceived that at the time the event supposedly took place, the Baron flew a Halberstadt D.II. This plane was capable of around 93mph, powered by a 120hp six-cylinder Mercedes engine. The capability of the plane to be able to match anything from outer space is highly contested, let alone shoot the UFO down with great ease.
The Red Baron shooting down a UFO is highly unlikely, but the story is incredibly interesting nonetheless, and is just one of many to come out of the world wars.
