The Nazi Bell UFO ("Die Glocke"): An Investigative Overview
During the final years of World War II, Nazi Germany was desperate for a Wunderwaffe (“wonder-weapon”) that could turn the tide of the war. The regime poured resources into advanced and esoteric weapons research – from rocket engines to jet aircraft – fueling later legends that they pursued even more fantastical technology. In this milieu arose the tale of Die Glocke (“The Bell”), a purported top-secret device developed in the Third Reich’s hidden laboratories in the 1940s. According to the legend, this project was conducted under the SS in Lower Silesia (then Germany, now Poland), at a facility called Der Riese (“The Giant”) near the Wenceslas Mine. SS General Hans Kammler – who oversaw many Nazi black projects – is often cited as the program’s head, and it was allegedly given the highest secrecy classification as Kriegsentscheidend (war decisive).
Accounts claim that renowned scientists like Wernher von Braun, Kurt Debus, and physicist Walther Gerlach were involved in Die Glocke’s development. By early 1944, experiments were supposedly underway in underground laboratories, using forced labor from nearby concentration camps. This secret research was said to have consumed enormous electrical power and to be of such importance that, if successful, it could change the outcome of the war. While Nazi Germany did produce advanced weapons (V-2 rockets, jet fighters, etc.), mainstream historians find no evidence that anything as exotic as Die Glocke ever existed in reality. Nonetheless, the legend situates the Bell at the center of Nazi occult science and secret weapon mythology.
