In the study of UFOs, conspiracy theories, science fiction, and comic books, some stories suggest that UFOs are connected to Nazi Germany. These ideas appear in books, movies, and other stories about secret events. The theories claim that Nazi scientists may have created advanced flying machines or spaceships before and during World War II. They also say these machines and their creators may have continued to exist after the war in hidden underground bases in Antarctica, South America, or the United States.
Early UFOs as possible Nazi technology
During the Second World War, strange objects seen in the sky over Europe were sometimes thought to be new Nazi technology. In the early years of the Cold War, Western countries considered that these strange objects might be connected to Soviet use of captured or copied Nazi technology.
In World War II, unusual flying objects called "foo fighters" were seen by both Axis and Allied soldiers. Some reports were ignored as mistakes made by soldiers during battle, but others were studied seriously. Scientists like Luis Alvarez looked into these sightings. In some cases, Allied leaders thought the foo fighters might be advanced German planes or weapons, especially since Germany had already created powerful weapons like V-1 and V-2 rockets and the first jet-powered Me 262 fighter planes. Some foo fighters were reported to have damaged Allied planes.
In 1946, strange rocket-shaped objects called "ghost rockets" were seen mostly in Sweden and nearby countries like Finland. The first reports came from Finland on February 26, 1946. Between May and December 1946, about 2,000 sightings were recorded, with the most on August 9 and 11. Radar confirmed 200 sightings, and physical pieces of the objects were found and linked to ghost rockets.
Studies later suggested that many ghost rocket sightings were likely caused by meteors. For example, the peaks in sightings on August 9 and 11, 1946, matched the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. However, most sightings happened outside meteor shower times and showed features not seen in meteors, like reported movement.
Scientists still debate where the ghost rockets came from. In 1946, some believed they were launched from a former German rocket site in Peenemünde and were tests by the Soviets of captured German V-1 or V-2 rockets or other early missile designs. This led the Swedish Army to stop newspapers from reporting exact locations or details of ghost rocket sightings, as this information might help the countries testing them.
Similar ideas about German technology appeared again in 1947 during the flying disc craze, after a pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine fast-moving, crescent-shaped objects. Scientists in the first U.S. Air Force UFO investigation group, Project Sign, noticed that German designs by the Horten brothers, which were advanced flying wing planes, resembled some UFO reports. In 1959, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who led Project Blue Book (a later UFO study), wrote:
When World War II ended, Germany had several new types of planes and guided missiles in development. Most were still in early stages, but they were the only known designs that could even come close to the performance of objects reported by UFO witnesses.
At first, these ideas were mostly discussed by military personnel. However, the first mass media report about German flying saucers appeared in an Italian newspaper, Il Giornale d'Italia, in early 1950. The article, written by Professor Giuseppe Belluzzo, claimed that Germany and Italy had designed flying discs as early as 1942. Belluzzo also said that "some great power is launching discs to study them."
In the same month, a German engineer named Rudolf Schriever told a magazine that he had designed a flying disc powered by a large rotating turbine. He said the project was developed by his team at BMW in Prague until April 1945, when he fled to Czechoslovakia. His designs and a model were later stolen from his workshop, and he believed Czech agents had built his craft for a foreign power. Later reports about his work had conflicting details.
In 1953, when Avro Canada announced it was building a circular jet plane called the Avrocar, a German engineer named Georg Klein claimed similar designs had been made during the Nazi era. Klein described two types of supposed German flying discs.
Some claims, like those by a man named Miethe, were not supported by evidence. Other claims, such as that a German engineer named Habermohl existed, were not confirmed. Rudolf Schriever claimed he worked for Heinkel as a test pilot, but this was never proven. After the war, Schriever drove trucks for the U.S. Army but told reporters that foreign groups had offered him money for details about his wartime work.
An aeronautical engineer named Roy Fedden said that the only aircraft close to the abilities of flying saucers were those the Germans were designing near the end of the war. Fedden, who led a technical mission to Germany after the war, said in 1945:
I have seen enough of their designs and plans to know that if the Germans had had more time during the war, we would have faced completely new and dangerous weapons in the air.
Fedden also said the Germans were working on several unusual aeronautical projects, but he did not explain them further.
Nazi UFO conspiracy theories
By the 1960s, some writers began sharing stories about Nazi flying objects, which were connected to mystical beliefs or aliens. These stories and fictional accounts describe several names or classifications for these alleged Nazi flying devices, such as Rundflugzeug, Feuerball, Diskus, Haunebu, Hauneburg-Gerät, Glocke, V7, Vril, Kugelblitz (not related to a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun of the same name), Andromeda-Gerät, Flugkreisel, Kugelwaffe, Jenseitsflugmaschine, and Reichsflugscheibe. Companies that make model kits, like Airfix and Revell, have created kits of the "Haunebu" design. This design also appears in video games such as X-Plane 11 and Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight. Claims about these flying objects appeared as early as 1950, possibly inspired by real German research into special engines, such as Viktor Schauberger’s "Repulsine" developed during World War II. These ideas have been included in fictional and non-fictional media, such as video games and documentaries, often mixed with more factual information.
German UFO-related writing often aligns with known historical facts in certain areas. For example, the 1960 book Le Matin des Magiciens by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier made bold claims about the Vril Society in Berlin. Later, writers like Jan van Helsing, Norbert-Jürgen Ratthofer, and Vladimir Terziski expanded on these ideas, linking the Vril Society to UFOs. They suggested the society may have communicated with an alien race and worked to build spacecraft to reach them. According to these claims, the Vril Society partnered with the Thule Society and the Nazi Party to develop flying disc prototypes. After Nazi Germany’s defeat, the society supposedly moved to a base in Antarctica and disappeared into the Hollow Earth to meet leaders of an advanced race living inside Earth.
In the 1970s, Ernst Zündel, a German Holocaust denier, started Samisdat Publishers. At first, he focused on UFO-related topics, which were widely accepted by the public at the time. His books claimed that flying saucers were secret Nazi weapons launched from an underground base in Antarctica, where Nazis aimed to conquer Earth and possibly other planets. Zündel also sold tickets for an expedition to find the entrance to the Hollow Earth for $9,999. Some people who spoke with Zündel said he privately admitted the idea was a hoax to promote his publishing company, though he continued to support it as late as 2002.
In 1978, Miguel Serrano, a Chilean diplomat and supporter of Nazi ideas, published El Cordón Dorado: Hitlerismo Esotérico (The Golden Thread: Esoteric Hitlerism). He claimed Adolf Hitler was an Avatar of Vishnu, a god in Hinduism, and that Hitler was communicating with Hyperborean gods from an underground base in Antarctica, known as New Swabia. Serrano predicted Hitler would lead a fleet of UFOs from the base to create the Fourth Reich. In popular culture, this alleged fleet is called “The Final Battalion.”
Die Glocke (“The Bell”) was described as a top-secret Nazi scientific device, weapon, or miracle weapon. Polish journalist Igor Witkowski first wrote about it in 2000, and later, military writer Nick Cook linked it to Nazi mystical beliefs, antigravity, and research into free energy. Many experts have criticized claims about Die Glocke as fictional, repeated rumors, or hoaxes. Stories about Die Glocke and other alleged Nazi “miracle weapons” have been dramatized in video games, television, and books. However, many skeptics believe these stories are not based on real inventions or devices.