[19], The first balloons were launched at 0500 on November 3, 1944. In the months leading up to that spring day on Gearhart Mountain, there had been some warning signs, apparitions scattered around the western United States that were largely unexplainedat least to the general public. It Happened Here: Japanese balloon bombs found in Yakima Valley This discovery greenlighted the mass production of 10,000 balloons in preparation for the winter winds of 1944 and 1945. Just then there was a big explosion. Map by Jerome N. Cookson, National Geographic; source: Dave Tewksbury, Hamilton College. Map of Fu-Go incident locations in North America. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed three days later by another on Nagasaki. [29], On January 4, 1945, the U.S. Office of Censorship sent a confidential memo to newspaper editors and radio broadcasters asking that they give no publicity to balloon incidents; this proved highly effective, with the agency sending another memo three months later stating that cooperation had been "excellent" and that "there is no question that your refusal to publish or broadcast information about these balloons has baffled the Japanese, annoyed and hindered them, and has been an important contribution to security. The incidents remind historians and Nebraskans of an incident that occurred in Dundee during World War II. Story of fatal Bly balloon bomb featured in documentary Japan's latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States. ", As described by J. David Rodgers of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, the balloon bombs "were 33 feet in diameter and could lift approximately 1,000 pounds, but the deadly portion of their cargo was a 33-lb anti-personnel fragmentation bomb, attached to a 64foot-long fuse that was intended to burn for 82 minutes before detonating. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. It was meant to be "revenge" for the Doolittle raids on Japan. In February 17, 1945, the Japanese used the Domei News Agency to broadcast directly to America in English and claimed that 500 or 10,000 casualties (the news accounts differ) had been inflicted and fires caused, all from their fire balloons. It was made of 600 pieces of paper. Stocks of decontamination chemicals, ultimately unused, were shipped to key points in the western states. It's a quirky story [of] World War II. This prompted Army officers to contact military intelligence, commenting that the reporting included "a lot of mechanical detail on the thing, in addition to being a hell of a scare story". ", This screen grab from a Navy training film features an elaborate balloon bomb. Some balloons in each of the launches carried radiosonde equipment instead of bombs, and were tracked by direction finding stations in Ichinomiya, at Iwanuma, Miyagi, at Misawa, Aomori, and on Sakhalin to estimate the progress of the balloons towards North America. They were the only Americans to be killed by enemy action during World War II in the continental USA. At some point during World War II, scientists in Japan figured out a way to harness a brisk air stream that sweeps eastward across the Pacific Ocean to dispatch silent and deadly devices to the American mainland. Japan reportedly launched 9,000 balloons during a six-month period at the end of the war. Named Fu-Go, the so-called 'balloon bombs' were 10 metres (33 feet) tall, with the ability to carry four 11-pound (5.0 kg) incendiary devices plus one 33-pound (15 kg) anti-personnel bomb. [25] In the "Lightning Project", health and agricultural officers, veterinarians, and 4-H clubs were instructed to report any strange new diseases of crops or livestock caused by potential biological warfare. Chinese Spy Balloon Not First Military Balloon To Target America The balloon did not have any major consequences. One bomb fell in Medford, Ore., Webber said. While Archie parked their car, Elsye and the children stumbled upon a strange-looking object in the forest and shouted back to him. where personnel from the FBI, Army and Navy carefully examined everything. While Archie was moving the car, Elsie and the children found the balloon and carriage, loaded with an anti-personnel bomb, on the ground. On Paper Wings shows them meeting face-to-face in Bly decades later. In addition, the balloons could only be launched during certain wind conditions. "When launched in groups they are said to have looked like jellyfish floating in the sky. Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images. He can be found online at www.christopherklein.com or on Twitter @historyauthor. Japanese fire balloon reinflated at Moffett Field, California, after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945. Copyright 2022 by the Atomic Heritage Foundation. [14], In late 1942, the Imperial General Headquarters had directed the Navy to begin its own balloon bomb program in parallel with the Army project. US Army Air Corps Chinese surveillance balloon's flight over the US has highlighted the military. Japanese bombs landed in Saskatchewan 71 years ago | CBC News [37], By mid-April 1945, Japan lacked the resources to continue manufacturing balloons, with both paper and hydrogen in short supply. The balloon caused sparks and a fireball that resulted in the power being cut. . Early U.S. theories speculated that they were launched from German prisoner of war camps or from Japanese-American internment centers. Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. The balloon bombs were 70 feet tall with a 33-foot diameter paper canopy connected to the main device by shroud lines. US Army The firebombing of Japanese cities by U.S. B 29 four-engine bombers destroyed two of the three hydrogen plants needed by the project. The balloon bombs were possibly viewed as a means of exacting some revenge for the extensive US bombing of Japanese cities, which were particularly vulnerable to incendiary attacks. Wyo Weatherman Don Day Featured In WWII Documentary About Japanese Using 40-foot-long ropes attached to the balloons, the military mounted incendiary devices and 30-pound high-explosive bombs rigged to drop over North America and spark massive forest fires. Chinese spy balloon sparks echos of Japanese balloon bombs during WWII Vincent Bud Whitehead, a counter-intelligence agent at Hanford, recalled chasing and bringing down another balloon from a small airplane: I threw a brick at it. The Japanese harnessed air currents to create the first intercontinental weaponsballoons. The first balloon bomb was set free on Nov. 3, 1944. [43] A bomb disposal expert guessed that the bomb had been kicked or otherwise disturbed. All rights reserved. [2] In 1933, Lieutenant General Reikichi Tada began an experimental balloon bomb program at Noborito, designated Fu-Go,[a] which proposed a hydrogen balloon 13 feet (4.0m) in diameter equipped with a time fuse and capable of delivering bombs up to 70 miles (110km). Japanese Balloon Attack Almost Interrupted Building First Atomic Bombs National and state agencies were placed on heightened alert, and forest rangers were asked to report sightings or finds. Military personnel who arrived on the scene observed that the balloon had snow beneath it, unlike the surrounding area, and concluded that it had lain there undisturbed for weeks until discovered. Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained. The balloons, or "envelopes", designed by the Japanese army were made of lightweight paper fashioned from the bark of trees. The Japanese balloon bomb, in all its terrible splendor. The campaign was halted, with no intention to revive it when winds restarted in late 1945. The American government, however, continued to maintain silence until May 5, 1945. The reverend would later describe that tragic moment to local newspapers: Ihurriedly called a warning to them, but it was too late. The U.S. press blackout was lifted on May 22 so the public could be warned of the balloon threat. 7777https://youtu.be . One killed six people in Oregon. The reverse principle also appliedwhile the American public was largely in the dark in the early months of 1945, so were those who were launching these deadly weapons. The balloon and parts were taken to Butte, [Mont.] Just a few months ago a couple of forestry workers in Lumby, British Columbia about 250 miles north of the U.S. border happened upon a 70-year-old Japanese balloon bomb . While much of the American public may have forgotten, the families in Bly never would. Fu-Go ([], fug [heiki], lit. Japan's balloon bombs remain little known 70 years after the end of World War II for several reasons. When Six Americans Were Killed By a 'Balloon Bomb' When Japan Launched Killer Balloons in World War II - HISTORY Sherman Shoemaker, Edward Engen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patzke, and Dick Patzke, all between 11 to 14 years old, were killed, along with Rev. It is estimated . When inflated with hydrogen, the balloons grew to 33 feet in diameter. The bombs were ineffective as fire starters due to damp conditions, causing only minor damage and six deaths in a single civilian incident in Oregon in May 1945. Japan In WWII: The Fu-Go Balloon Bomb | World War Weird - YouTube A Japanese-launched balloon bomb like this one apparently exploded near Farmington in March 1945 during World War II. Against a scenic backdrop far removed from the war raging across the Pacific, Mitchell and five other children would become the firstand onlycivilians to die by enemy weapons on the United States mainland during World War II. I had been walking around on that stuff and they had not told me! On September 19, two Americans spoke with Lieutenant Colonel Terato Kunitake and a Major Inouye. Atmospheric uncertainty made for an uncontrolled attack. A huge explosion rocked the placid mountainside. Following the end of the war, a team of American scientists arrived in Tokyo in September to create a report on Japanese scientific war research. [9], By March 1943, Kusaba's team developed a 20-foot (6.1m) design capable of flying at 25,000 feet (7,600m) for more than 30 hours. A one-hour activating fuse for the altimeters was ignited at launch, allowing the balloon time to ascend above these two thresholds. [11] The original proposal called for night launches from submarines located 600 miles (970km) off of the U.S. coast, a distance the balloons could cover in 10 hours. Is Sherman dead? [35] In both cases, the Office of Censorship deemed it unnecessary to censor the comic strips. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. To date, only a few hundred of the devices have been found and most are still unaccounted for. 1. At the end they all were dead except Archie. Like most in the community, the Patzke family had no inkling that the dangers of war would reach their own backyard in rural Oregon. When a forest ranger in the vicinity came upon the scene, he found the victims radiating out like spokes around a smoldering crater and the 26-year-old minister beating his wifes burning dress with his bare hands. Ultimately, Fu-Go was a military failure. Elsie called to her husband back at the car. They each carried four incendiaries and one thirty-pound high-explosive bomb. The first one Americans found was Nov. 4, 1944, floating in the ocean 66 miles southwest of San Pedro, Calif. That one was believed to have been a test balloon launched before the main launch. Lannie. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? Photograph courtesy of Karen Melkonian. February 3, 2023 at 3:02 p.m. EST A Japanese bomb-carrying paper balloon in North America in 1945. [19] The Army estimated that 10 percent of the balloons would survive the journey across the Pacific Ocean. Hitching a ride on a jet stream, these weapons from Japan could float soundlessly across the Pacific Ocean to their marks in. consternation and prevent the Japanese from discovering their mission's success. Map with recorded balloon bomb attacks. In the months of November to March, there were only 50 anticipated favorable days, and they expected to launch a maximum of 200 balloons from their three launch sites per day. It wasnt until two weeks later, when more sea debris of the balloons were found, that the military realized its importance. Schoolgirls were conscripted to labor in factories manufacturing the balloons, which were made of endless reams of paper and held together by a paste made of konnyaku, a potato-like vegetable. The balloons were supposed to blow themselves up after releasing anti-personnel and. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. Is this the 1st time U.S. has dealt with potentially dangerous balloon [21], Two weeks after the discovery of the B-Type balloon off San Pedro, an A-Type balloon was found in the ocean off Kailua, Hawaii, on November 14. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. Mitchell would go on to marry the Betty Patzke, the elder sibling out of ten children in Dick and Joan Patzkes family (they lost another brother fighting in the war), and fulfill the dream he and Elsye once shared of going overseas as missionaries. Japanese Vengenance Balloon Bombs of World War II - J. David Rogers Japanese balloon bomb kills 6 in Oregon - by Marc Lancaster The balloon bombs, however, presaged the future of warfare. As part of their report, they interviewed officials from Noborito who had worked on the Fu-Go program. In total, an estimated 500,000 or more Japanese civilians would be killed. The Fourth Air Force, Western Defense Command, and Ninth Service Command organized the "Firefly Project" with a number of Stinson L-5 Sentinel and Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft and 2,700 troops, including 200 paratroopers of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, who were stationed at critical points for use in firefighting missions.