On the night of February 24, 1942, to early morning February 25, three months after the Pearl Harbor attack, an attacking force coming from Japan was thought to be aimed at the U.S. With the U.S. on high alert, they didn’t want to take any chances. They went straight into a blackout. All of LA had a power outage and would be like that until the morning of the next day.
After the whole ordeal, Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox would say that it was just a “false alarm,” although many locals had said that they saw something in the sky. Troops would be stationed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California to set up anti-aircraft guns. Los Angeles would sound sirens at 2:25 am and shoot artillery at the unidentified flying object from 3:16 am to 4:14 am. The 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing .50-caliber machine guns and 12.8 pound anti-aircraft shells into the air and over 1,400 shells were fired at the aircraft.
Many people said that they saw a fighter plane, while others thought they saw a blimp. The information was suspiciously not adding up. The government said that it was a “false alarm,” while many key witnesses said they saw something flying on that night. Nothing was retrieved from the aftermath, clearing that it couldn’t have been a plane. That can also eliminate the idea of it being a blimp, although many said it looked like a balloon. One theory is that it could have been a weather balloon. But if it was a weather balloon, it would have been airborne from the U.S., which didn't add up when the radars picked up the aircraft coming from the direction of Japan.
At the time, the radars weren’t the best technology, but on the radar, it showed that the “enemy” was moving slowly. This fact was not included in the investigation, until after everything was investigated, which makes no sense, as it is a key piece of the puzzle. Everyone was confused with what had happened. The government said it was a “false alarm.” The people said it was a plane, a blimp, or a balloon. The whole thing was considered a buffoonery that spread the war effort of the state. Was the U.S. really so paranoid, they had to cover it up?
What do you think it was?
What are your thoughts on why the government said it was a “false alarm?”
How would you react to this event?
If you want a more in depth view into the story, check out this video:
Replies
I had not heard of this before. Very interesting and well done Jayden! Be sure to reply back three different days.
I think it was Japan getting reconnaissance on America to set up a raid a raid. Not to stress Americans. I woudlve probobly ignored it.
I think that it was probably nothing, which is why the US declared it a false alarm before panick broke out. This was imporant because the attack on Pearl Harber was so recent. It's possible people convinced themselves they saw something because they had images of Pearl Harber so fresh on their minds.
That's a good way of looking at it. I totally forgot to put into perspective of how the people could have got PTSD and extreme paranoria from the attack on Pearl Harbor that they would hallucinate seeing another attack. That's a key detail, and it seems to make sense as to why the government would say that it wasn't real while the people did.
I think that it could have been a plane or another aircraft. If this happened to me I would be suspicious, as would so many others. I think that the government withholds information, and for the most part, it is for a good reason. I think the government said it was a false alarm because they didn't want the whole country panicked or paranoid.
I definitely think that there was a lot of paranoia among the US government. It is very possible that reports were exaggerated and people thought the worst. I think the government viewed it as a false alarm to calm the nation because no damage was actually done.
I think it's crazy how so many people can go through the same thing, experience the same thing, and have the same mental mindset. It's kind of like the Mandela Effect with how everyone says that they saw something, yet it wasn't wasn't they thought.
This is pretty interesting, I don't think I've heard of this event. It's strange that the government is actively trying to withhold information about this event. They found no proof of Japanese presence in Los Angeles, so I wonder what it could've been.