7 WWII Mysteries That Will Leave You Baffled

6. Foo Fighters: Not the Band, But a String of UFO’s?

No, we’re not talking about the rock band. The name itself was actually an Allied military term during the days of WWII, signifying the presence of UFO’s or other strange aerial sightings hovering overhead in European and Pacific territories. While the US 415th Night Fighter Squadron first coined the term, the name “Foo Fighters” shortly became formal military terminology after November 1944.

Military personnel were under the impression that these bizarre UFO’s may be some sort of Nazi secret weapon, prepared to attack their aircraft. Officials would keep their eyes peeled for any random sightings that happened to appear and report their findings. Later, an investigative group called the Robertson Panel tried to debunk any reportings as possible weather phenomenons or leftover “balls” of lightning after intensely-electrical thunderstorms.

However, none of the findings from the panel nor the military personnel came up with definitive answers, leaving these interesting “Foo Fighters” a mystery.

5. The Bermuda Triangle Legend Gained Momentum After Flight 19 Mysteriously Disappeared

In today’s world, there’s numerous accounts of missing or disappearing planes, boats, ships, etc. that have been sucked into the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. The location has become synonymous with strange behavior, but during the days of WWII, its reputation was lesser known.

The story of Flight 19 begins on December 5, 1945, when a unit of five TBM Avenger Bombers, aka “Flight 19”, as well as the crew members onboard the PBM Mariner flying boat sent to find them, all disappeared at the same time, never to be found or heard from again.

This odd disappearance occurred during an everyday US Navy overwater navigation training flight outside of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All 27 men, including the Flight 19 crews, simply vanished and are presumed dead. This has led many to wonder what exactly could have happened to all of those individual troops and their transportation all at the same time. No wreckage was found, and the Navy’s report simply states their disappearances as “cause unknown.”

4. A US Plane Involved in Pearl Harbor Finally Crash Landed… A Year Later… With No Pilot

During the chaos of war, it’s hard to keep track of every incident that occurs. However, when a plane involved in a major event like the Pearl Harbor attacks returns into American airspace a year after the event, it’s certainly going to turn some heads.

On the day of December 8, 1942, US radar became suspicious of a UFO heading towards American soil from Japan. Since frayed nerves were still mending from the previous attacks, even a year later, the American response was swift and two fighter planes took off to go fly alongside the unknown object and figure out the situation.

They reported back that the UFO was a P-40 fighter plane – which had been out of use since the Pearl Harbor attack the year before. While this would have been bizarre enough on its own, it was discovered that the landing gear had been disabled, bullet holes lined the exterior of the plane, and the pilot himself was covered in what appeared to be fresh blood. Sadly, just as the plane was nosediving, the pilot reportedly waved before crash landing.

However, once American crews analyzed the wreckage, the pilot’s body wasn’t there. His body was never found at all. The answers to this mystery sadly disappeared with him, and no further evidence has been found.

3. The Caller Who Betrayed Anne Frank and Her Family Was Never Identified

The tragic story of Anne Frank’s life under Nazi tyranny has been retold for decades after her diary was brought to light back in 1945. But sadly, no clear indication of who made the fateful phone call exposing her and her family’s hiding place during the Holocaust has ever been documented.

Various people have been considered suspects, but no concrete evidence has formed a legitimate answer. Willem van Maaren, a warehouse manager, and a friend of Anne Frank’s father, Tony Ahlers, were questioned and scrutinized, but any potential witnesses to the incident had all passed away.

And the receiver of the phone call, Nazi officer Julius Dettman, committed suicide after the German surrender, taking any answers he had regarding the phone call with him. Unfortunately, this may be just another mystery that goes unsolved.

2. Raoul Wallenberg, Liberator of Jews in Budapest, Got Arrested By the Soviets And Was Never Seen Again

There seems to be a common theme with disappearances among these WWII mysteries.

Wallenberg was deemed a hero for his efforts in saving up to 60,000 Jewish citizens in Nazi-run Hungary during the war. He gave them food and access to both soup kitchens and hospital care. Fake passports were even handed out to save some from being forced into death camps.

However, this Swedish businessman was arrested by the Red Army for suspicion of espionage – and he was never heard from again. Various reports claim he had a heart attack while under arrest, while others say he was poisoned or beaten to death.

And some claim he was even still alive, just locked up in prison for years. But the public will never know the true cause of his disappearance because an autopsy was never conducted on his (supposed) dead body.

1. The Notorious Russian “Amber Room” Was Overtaken and Moved Between Various Cities, Only to Never Be Recovered After the War

An entire room full of beauty and riches disappears, and no one can find it? That seems to be the case with this story, where the commonly known “Eighth Wonder of the World” – a chamber in the Catherine Palace of Tsarkoye Selo that was full of priceless art pieces, fashioned in amber panels and gold filagree – was repeatedly moved after changing hands during the war.

While everything was said to have been taken to Konigsberg in Prussia, consistent bombings of the area could have potentially destroyed it. Or, disregarding that theory, others say the ownership changes led to the majority of this wealthy possession to be carted off in separate groups all over the world.

As with many of these odd WWII occurrences, however, the whereabouts of the Amber Room remain unknown.