I don't normally deal with historic events because I prefer current events but this story just simply blows my mind.
Wikipedia
The Japanese fire balloon was the first ever weapon possessing intercontinental range (the second being the Convair B-36 Peacemaker and the third being the R-7ICBM). The Japanese balloon strikes on North America were at that time the longest ranged attacks ever conducted in the history of warfare, a record which was not broken until the 1982 Operation Black Buck raids during the Falkland Islands War.
The balloons were ineffective as weapons but were used in one of the few attacks on North America during World War II.
From late 1944 until early 1945, the Japanese launched over 9300 fire balloons, of which 300 were found or observed in the U.S. Despite the high hopes of their designers, the balloons were ineffective as weapons: causing only six deaths (from one single incident) and a small amount of damage.
The Japanese designed two types of balloons. The first was called the "Type B Balloon" and was designed by the Japanese Navy. It was 9 m (30 ft) in diameter and consisted of rubberized silk. The type B balloons were sent first and mainly used for meteorological purposes. The Japanese used them to determine the possibility of the bomb-carrying balloons reaching North America.[3] The second type was the bomb-carrying balloon. Japanese bomb-carrying balloons were 10 m (33 ft) in diameter and, when fully inflated, held about 540 m3 (19,000 cu ft) of hydrogen. Their launch sites were located on the east coast of the main Japanese island of Honshū.
Japan released the first of these bomb-bearing balloons on November 3, 1944. They were found in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Kansas,Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan[4] and Iowa, as well as Mexico and Canada.
General Kusaba's men launched over 9,000 balloons throughout the course of the project. The Japanese expected 10% (around 900) of them to reach America, which is also what is currently believed by researchers.[5] About 300 balloon bombs were found or observed in America. It is likely that more balloon bombs landed in unpopulated areas of North America.
The last one was launched in April 1945. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon
IMAGINE THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS REGARDING THESE OBJECTS
Truman learns about the fire balloons and makes a decision to drop one of OUR special " Little Boy" balloons on a balloon factory in Hiroshima and then the next day discovers another balloon factory in Nagasaki.......
Pilots in the Enola Gay look out their port window and say...."what the fuck are those things" as they fly past 50 balloons on their way to California.
A farmer in Nevada looks up and reports the first UFO in 1944 and the government says...."mind your own business Mr. MacDonald."
The scientist who created this device went on to start Toyota because he had access to millions of pounds of high grade rubber.
The Trojan prophylactic company was started because some guy in California stumbled upon a balloon outside of Bakersfield and suddenly was in possession of a thousand yards of interesting material that could be stretched very very thinly....and it was incredibly strong.
The agent who was handling the transaction between the rubber plantation in Honduras and the Japanese Government became a theatrical agent in Hollywood.
THE STRANGEST PART OF THIS STORY CENTERS ON THE FACT THAT I'VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT FIRE BALLOONS UNTIL THIS MORNING....
I must have had 100 war conversations with my father who was a marine in WW11 and he never mentioned them. Wish I could ask him now but his rock at Westlake Golf Course always remain very quiet when I say hi every Tuesday morning.
I've watched numerous shows on the History Channel regarding WW11 and have never seen a story about Fire Balloons.
9300 balloons and one fatal incident.
Single lethal attack[edit]
| Killed near Bly, Oregon[23] |
| 1. Elsie Mitchell, age 26 |
| 2. Edward Engen, age 13 |
| 3. Jay Gifford, age 13 |
| 4. Joan Patzke, age 13 |
| 5. Dick Patzke, age 14 |
| 6. Sherman Shoemaker, age 11 |
On May 5, 1945, a pregnant woman (Elsie Winters Mitchell, born February 26, 1919)[24] and five children were killed when they discovered a balloon bomb that had landed in the forest of Gearhart Mountain in Southern Oregon. Archie Mitchell was the pastor of the Bly Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. He and his pregnant wife Elsie drove up to Gearhart Mountain with five of their Sunday school students (aged 11–14) to have a picnic. They had to stop at this spot near Bly, Oregon, due to construction and a road closing. Elsie and the children got out of the car at Bly, while Archie drove on to find a parking spot. As Elsie and the children looked for a good picnic spot, they saw a strange balloon lying on the ground. As the group approached the balloon, a bomb attached to it exploded, killing Elsie and all five children instantly. Archie and several members of the road crew witnessed the explosion and immediately ran to the scene and used their hands to extinguish the fire on Elsie's and the children's clothing, but they could not save them.[25][26] Two members of the road crew gathered their bearings and headed to Bly. These are the only known deaths caused by the balloon bombs. Aside from the Aleutian Islands Campaign in the Alaska Territory, they are the only known deaths in the contiguous U.S. as the result of enemy action during World War II and the only civilian casualties on American soil after the US entry into the war.
Military personnel arrived on the scene within hours, and saw that the balloon still had snow underneath it, while the surrounding area did not. They concluded that the balloon bomb had drifted to the ground several weeks earlier, and had lain there undisturbed until found by the group.
Elsie Mitchell is buried in the Ocean View Cemetery in Port Angeles, Washington. A memorial, the Mitchell Monument, is located at the point of the explosion, 110 kilometers (68 miles) northeast of Klamath Falls in the Mitchell Recreation Area. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Several Japanese civilians have visited the monument to offer their apologies for the deaths that took place here, and several cherry trees have been planted around the monument as a symbol of peace.[26]
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time......
And then as I read about the balloons I discover that they started making them out of WASHI paper because of how strong the fiber is........and I use Washi paper whenever I do a painting not done on canvas.
WTF????????
Michael Timothy McAlevey
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