Ghost Rockets
MAY-DECEMBER 1946 >> FINLAND

The ghost rockets were seen over the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. The sightings began in May when people in northern Sweden saw strange rocket-like shapes flying overhead. The reports were ignored mostly until June 9 when one was spotted over Helsinki, Finland trailing smoke and leaving a phantom glow in its trail. More sightings came from different parts of Europe. The accounts would vary in the appearance and actions of the objects. Object shapes reported were mostly rockets but included gray spheres, fireballs, or spinning circles spraying sparks. They looked like cigars or footballs. Flight patterns also differed: some flew straight, others climbed, dived, rolled, and reversed direction. Some soared across the sky while others appeared to float.

Over 1,000 sightings were reported between May and December in just Sweden. Other sightings were made as far away as Portugal, North Africa, Italy, Greece, and India. It was believed that the sightings were Soviet test shots of missiles. The Soviets denied that they were testing missiles. Even so a news blackout on UFO sightings was imposed and the US assisted in the investigation as Swedish military forces went on alert. The Swedish Defense Ministry would find that 80% of the sightings could be explained as conventional aircraft or celestial activity. That left 20% or 200 of the sightings as nothing more then "cannot be the phenomena of nature or products of the imagination."