UFOs of the First World War: Phantom Airships, Balloons, Aircraft and Other Mysterious Aerial Phenomena

by Nigel Watson

Lieutenant R.S. Maxwell took off in his BE2C fighter but saw nothing unusual until 8.25 p.m. when, according to his report: ‘My engine was missing irregularly and it was only by keeping the speed of the machine down to 50 mph that I was able to stay at 10,000 feet. I distinctly saw an artificial light to the north of me, and at about the same height. I followed this light northeast for nearly 20 minutes, but it seemed to go slightly higher and just as quickly as myself, and eventually I lost it completely in the clouds.’ Such sightings occurred frequently during the war. The reasons are fascinating in themselves: the first is that aviation is in its infancy, so light phenomena at altitude are a new experience. The second is fear: for the first time a real threat came from the skies. It wasn’t just the Western Front: on 21 August 1915 twenty New Zealand soldiers allegedly saw eight bread-loaf shaped clouds over Hill 60, Suvla Bay. ‘A British regiment, the First- Fourth Norfolk, of several hundred men, was then noticed marching . . . towards Hill 60.’ They marched into the cloud, which lifted off the ground, and were never seen again.

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2014

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Nigel Watson has researched and investigated historical and contemporary reports of UFO sightings since the 1970s. He has written numerous articles for Fortean Times, Magonia, Flying Saucer Review and UFO Magazine. He is the author of 'UFOs of the First War,' (History Press), 'the UFO Investigations Manual' (Haynes), and 'Captured by Aliens? A History and Analysis of American Abduction Claims' (McFarland).

Reviews

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I have to start out by saying the title of this book is a misnomer--in fact, the first title fragment should have been removed and restated to simply: Phantom Airships of the First World War. There is only a small number of paragraphs--perhaps 3 to 4--in the entire book that have any resemblance to something we would consider a UFO in modern terms. The book really chronicles the hysteria of the early to mid 1910s when war was just about to break out and the new technologies of airplanes and dirigibles were causing panic in populations across the globe.

Watson breaks the narrative down into sightings by countries-British Isles, Germany, United States, Canada, Norway and Australia. In each case the surprise of any airplanes or blimps flying overhead created a small panic especially if the country believed there were spies and saboteurs attempting to spot military facilities or munitions factories. It seems from Watson's research that there were a significant number of German flights over Europe around 1909 to 1914 including many at night (thus, even more panic in the populace).

At 200+ pages the book is a pretty easy read but a bit tedious with report after report from various news sources that really doesn't provide much coherence or background. Having only sightings as the book's framework is not all that interesting without some deeper background on just what was happening in aviation at that time. I was pleased he used original news sources however.

Not the most scholarly work but is the only book I know devoted to sightings in that decade. If you're an aviation scholar you might find this book interesting. But, if you were looking for some UFO reports before the modern era (pre-1947) then you will be disappointed.

[Eric Wojciechowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read more like Charles Fort's "Book of the Damned" by piling on case after case, sometimes only consisting of a sentence or two. And the majority were just reports of "airships", Zeppelins, balloons, bi-planes, and conventional aircraft of the time that couldn't be identified (I recall only one saucer report). So what you're reading is pretty much war nerves. But what I did enjoy was the author doesn't just throw cases at the reader. If there's an explanation, he reports it. And he doesn't go for the sensational conclusion. He goes for what's the most likely conclusion.

For instance, there's a section which discusses the alleged shoot down of a UFO/Saucer by none other than the Red Baron. The incident supposedly dropped the UFO out of the sky, crashing through trees with two occupants jumping out and running away. But the author doesn't let it end there. He digs and let's you know exactly why this is unlikely.

The most interesting parts weren't even UFOs (which again, were mainly reports of conventional aircraft the observer couldn't make a conclusion on). I enjoyed the chapter discussing mysterious cars that seemed to be scoping out targets for aircraft in England, or Russian spies allegedly riding the trains, conducting spy operations. They were known by, what else, snow on their boots!

And for those of you who know about the alleged Nazi Bell (Die Glocke) from World War II, there's a story in here about a bell-like object spotted in Norway.

The volume wraps up with a discussion of the supposed abduction of an entire British Regiment! I had never heard of this case before. But the author takes the time to tell you what the truth turned out to be.

I gave it three stars. I liked it. But it read more like a catalog of sightings of conventional aircraft and after awhile, got a little old. It's the type of thing expected for World War I. Aircraft was still rather new. People weren't as familiar as they are today. Still, a fair and surely painstaking topic of research considering the age of these reports. Worth a read if you're into UFOs at any rate.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a work of nonfiction, though it is about UFO's. None of the events are made-up. They do draw into question what people saw, but they are documented unidentified flying objects events that were seen by multiple people. There's a little bit of a push that some of them may have helped perpetuate the Great War, because there were some planes that were where planes shouldn't have been. The problem is there were planes in places that they couldn't reach. I think my skeptic side is interested how we see UFO's today and they can travel at supersonic speeds like the same planes we have right now and these 1915 UFO's seemed to move much slower. Which made little to no sense. I just don't think the alien technology is matching ours. Still it's a fun read/ It is got some great World War 1 information and we get to see how these UFO sightings occurred around the world right before the war. There is also some mention of the UFO the Red Baron shot down. Possibly a hoax, so the book doesn't spend time trying to convince you that these were actual aliens, but it does layout the facts with documentation that something was seen that could not be explained for the most part. It's a fun read.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very little UFO mystery, myth, or legend in this book. The UFOs that it covers are actual cases of Unidentified Flying Objects. Many of these cases can be chalked up to pre-war hysterics, while others could have been German Zeppelins or private citizens attempting forays into the world of flight.

[Warren Case · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's writing style left a lot to be desired; not a particularly engaging or fun read

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information wise this is a good book but there are a few flaws mainly in the readability aspect as many chapters seem to consist of a series of witness statements, a few times it is said that sightings not mentioned were of recognised planes and it would have been interesting to see if there were any differences between sightings of actual planes and sightings of might be planes, there is also the bad title, there are very few actual UFOs instead it is mostly concerned with sightings of Airships and Airplanes that were actually around at the time.