---
title: "This is the World War II history of the Foo Fighters"
description: "The rock band Foo Fighters didn't just put some gibberish out there and call it a band name. Keep reading to learn the name's origins."
date: "2022-04-18"
modified: "2023-04-13"
authors:
  - name: "Blake Stilwell"
    job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran"
    link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/"
url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/music/history-of-the-foo-fighters/"
categories:
  - "Entertainment"
  - "History"
  - "Music"
  - "War History"
  - "World War II"
---

# This is the World War II history of the Foo Fighters

![foo fighters](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/37363741706_ae20baef28_c.jpg>)
*The Foo Fighters performing at a concert in September, 2017. (Raph\_PH, \<a href="https://flickr.com/photos/69880995@N04/37363741706" target="\_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"\>Flickr\</a\>)*

The rock band Foo Fighters didn't just put some gibberish out there and call it a band name. Frontman Dave Grohl was actually reading a book about UFOs and he picked a name that, at the time, seemed to fit.

"Around the time that I recorded the first FF tape (that became the first record), I was reading a lot of books on UFOs, [he told Clash](<https://www.clashmusic.com/news/foo-fighters-on-their-band-name>). "Since I had recorded the first record by myself, playing all the instruments...I wanted people to think that it was a group, I figured that Foo Fighters might lead people to believe that it was more than just one guy. Silly, huh?"

Grohl is referring to the World War II slang term among fighter and bomber crews who believed they saw UFOs: "foo fighters."

[According to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space magazine](<https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/what-were-mysterious-foo-fighters-sighted-ww2-night-flyers-180959847/>), an Allied aircrew of World War II consisting of pilot Edward Schlueter, radar observer Donald J. Meiers and intelligence officer Fred Ringwald reported a series of bright orange lights in the air off their left wing.

![foo fighters history](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17314026/origin.jpg>)
*Artist's conception of World War II Foo Fighters. (Section 51 via YouTube)*

The lights disappeared and reappeared a number of times. Meiers dubbed them "foo fighters," from a nonsense word in a popular cartoon of the time.

They never showed up on radar and appeared to multiple aircrews of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron. They outmaneuvered all the aircraft and flew as fast or faster than 200 miles per hour.

Reports from the era say the pilots reported feeling "scared shitless" though the lights never caused damage to the airframes.

The Air Corps sent investigators to the 415th after journalist Robert Wilson published a front-page story in newspapers across America, but the investigation never saw the light of day. Even a CIA-funded panel of physicists failed to offer an explanation.

As for the band name, Grohl believes the name hasn't really stood the test of time.

"Had I actually considered this to be a career, I probably would have called it something else, because it's the stupidest f\*cking band name in the world," [Grohl said](<https://www.clashmusic.com/news/foo-fighters-on-their-band-name>).

## Author
Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house.

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