Karl-Gösta Bartoll was a Swedish Air Force officer who led the military investigation into the Lake Kölmjärv ghost rocket crash of July 19, 1946—one of the most significant incidents during the Scandinavian Ghost Rockets wave.

On that date, multiple witnesses reported observing a gray, rocket-shaped object with wings crash into Lake Kölmjärv in northern Sweden. Some witnesses reported hearing a thunderclap, possibly from the object exploding on impact. Bartoll was assigned to command a three-week military search of the lake bottom.

In his official report, Bartoll documented that while the lake bottom showed signs of disturbance, no physical debris was recovered. He concluded that "the object was probably manufactured in a lightweight material, possibly a kind of magnesium alloy that would disintegrate easily, and not give indications on our instruments." This explanation—that the objects were made of materials designed to self-destruct—became influential in subsequent Ghost Rockets analysis.

In a 1984 interview with Swedish researcher Clas Svahn, nearly four decades after the events, Bartoll maintained his position: "What people saw were real, physical objects." His steadfast assertion that the Ghost Rockets represented genuine anomalous phenomena has made him a key historical figure in European UAP research.