Ghost Rockets (1946)

Ghost rockets (Swedish: Spökraketer, also called Scandinavian ghost rockets) were rocket or missile shaped unidentified flying objects first sighted in 1946, primarily in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, including Finland. The first reports of ghost rockets were made on February 26, 1946, by Finnish observers. About 2,000 sightings were logged between May and December 1946, with peaks on 9 and 11 August 1946.

Two hundred sightings were verified with radar returns, and authorities recovered physical fragments which were attributed to ghost rockets. Investigations concluded that many ghost rocket sightings were probably caused by meteors. For example, the peaks of the sightings, on 9 and 11 August 1946, also fall within the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. However, most ghost rocket sightings did not occur during meteor shower activity; furthermore they displayed characteristics inconsistent with meteors, such as reported maneuverability.

Source Title

Wikipedia: Ghost rockets

Source URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_rockets

Source Notes

Imported from Wikipedia REST, MediaWiki, and Wikidata sources on 2026-07-06. Review article citations and edit details before saving. Coordinates inferred from location context using OpenStreetMap Nominatim query: Sweden. Date note: Wikidata provides year only; the date defaults to January 1 at 12:00.

1. Occurred Jan 1, 1946 12:00 PM UTC
2. Submitted Jul 6, 2026 9:10 AM Historical Archive created
3. Approved Jul 6, 2026 9:10 AM Moderator reviewed
4. Media Uploaded Jul 6, 2026 9:11 AM 2 media files