The Battle of Los Angeles - Hallowe'en day 5
Many tales of World War 2 have gained notable status. We've all heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway etc. but have you heard about The Battle of Los Angeles? Of course you probably haven't because The Battle of Los Angeles was a strange sort of "attack" indeed.
In the late night hours between Feb 24th and Feb 25th, 1942 about 3 months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, At least one large unknown object was spotted slowly moving over Los Angeles. Being wartime, the city was on a night back out curfew and an air raid alert was called. Searchlights swept the skies and easily settled on a huge round craft of unknown origin.
Several witnesses reported seeing army fighters engage the craft the largest of which was described as a huge light orange round object, to no effect. After several minutes of attacking fighter waves, the fighters were called off and the military opened up on the object with full anti-aircraft artillery. "It was like the Fourth of July but much louder. They were firing like crazy but they couldn't touch it." - (witness named Katie) In fact, many witnesses claimed to see direct hits on the flying unknown without any effect. The "battle" lasted for about 30 minutes as the object drifted out of the city.
Overall the defense fired over 2000 12 pound high explosive shells at the thing scoring several direct hits failing to damage it in any way. Six civilians in the city were killed by falling debris from the shells fired into the sky. The Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade targeted dozens of searchlights on the object and it was quite visible for miles around.
A photographer from the LA Times took a picture, the negative of which as well as a computer cleaned up version is presented below.
The official LA Times Article:
Chilly Throng Watches
Shells Bursting In Sky
By Marvin Miles
Explosions stabbing the darkness like tiny bursting stars... Searchlight beams poking long crisscross fingers across the night sky...Yells of wardens and the whistles of police and deputy sheriffs...The brief on-and-off flick of lights, telephone calls, snatches of conversation: 'Get the dirty...' That was Los Angeles under the rumble of gunfire yesterday.
RESIDENTS AWAKENED
Sleepy householders awoke to the dull thud of explosions... "Thunder? Can't be!" Then: "Air Raid! Come here quick! Look over there...those searchlights. They've got something...they are blasting in with anti-aircraft!" Father, mother, children all gathered on the front porch, congregated in small clusters in the blacked out streets -- against orders. Babies cried, dogs barked, doors slammed. But the object in the sky slowly moved on, caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.
SPECULATION RIFE
Speculation fell like rain. "It's a whole squadron." "No, it's a blimp. It must be because it's moving so slowly." "I hear planes." "No you don't. That's a truck up the street." "Where are the planes then?" "Dunno. They must be up there though." "Wonder why they picked such a clear night for a raid?" "They're probably from a carrier." "Naw, I'll bet they are from a secret air base down south somewhere." Still the firing continued. Like lethal firecrackers, the anti-aircraft rounds blasted above, below, seemingly right on the target fixed in the tenacious beams. Other shots fell short, exploding halfway up the long climb. Tracers sparked upward like roman candles. Metal fell. It fell in chunks, large and small; not enemy metal, but the whistling fragments of bursting ack-ack shells. The menacing thud and clank on streets and roof tops drove many spectators to shelter.
WARDENS DO GOOD JOB
Wardens were on the job, doing a good job of it. "Turn off your lights, please. Pull over to the curb and stop. Don't use your telephone. Take shelter. Take shelter." On every street brief glares of hooded flashlights cut the darkness, warning creeping drivers to stop. Police watched at main intersections. Sirens wailed enroute to and from blackout accidents. There came lulls in the firing. The search lights went out. (To allow the fighter planes to attack?). Angelinos breathed deeply and said, "I guess it's all over." But before they could tell their neighbors good night, the guns were blasting again, sighting up the long blue beams of the lights.
WATCHERS SHIVER
The fire seemed to burst in rings all around the target. But the eager watchers, shivering in the early morning cold, weren't rewarded by the sight of a falling plane. Nor were there any bombs dropped. "Maybe it's just a test," someone remarked. "Test, hell!" was the answer. "You don't throw that much metal in the air unless you're fixing on knocking something down." Still the firing continued, muttering angrily off toward the west like a distant thunderstorm. The targeted object inched along high, flanked by the cherry red explosions. And the householders shivered in their robes, their faces set, watching the awesome scene.
Official responses from the military were eventually handed out as weather balloons, and Japanese blimps despite the fact that Japanese blimps didn't exist in 1942. Doubts were placed on wether there were any objects in the sky at all and the "mass hysteria" explanation was also invoked. In my opinion, this case is a good example of a truly anomalous encounter with an unidentified flying object that was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people. It even had witnesses in the press and photographic evidence, yet due to official meddling and overall confusion it was undermined and has made absolutely no impact on history.
A brief eyewitness statement:
"Scott Littleton writes:
I was an eye-witness to the events of that unforgettable February
morning in February of 1942. I was eight-years-old at the time, and my
parents lived at 2500 Strand in Hermosa Beach, right on the beach. We thus
had a grandstand seat. While my father went about his air-raid warden
duties, my late mother and I watched the glowing object, which was caught in
the glare of searchlights from both Palos Verdes and
Malibu/Pacific/Palisades and surrounded by the puffs of ineffectual
anti-aircraft fire, as it slowly flew across the ocean from northwest to
southeast. It headed inland over Redondo Beach, a couple of miles to the
south of our vantage point, and eventually disappeared over the eastern end
of the Palos Verdes hills, what's today called Rancho Palos Verdes. The
whole incident last, at least from our perspective, lasted about half an
hour, though we didn't time it. Like other kids in the neighborhood, I
spend the next morning picking up of pieces of shrapnel on the beach;
indeed, it's a wonder more people weren't injured by the stuff, as we were
far from the only folks standing outside watching the action.
In any case, I don't recall seeing any truly discernable configuration, just
a small, glowing, slight lozenge-shaped blob light-a single, blob, BTW. We
only saw one object, not several as some witnesses later reported. At the
time, we were convinced that it was a "Jap" reconnaissance plane, and that
L.A. might be due for a major air-raid in the near future. Remember, this
was less than three months after Pearl Harbor. But that of course never
happened. Later on, we all expected "them," that is, the Military, to tell
us what was really up there after the war. But that never happened,
either.."
There is way too much data on this encounter for me to type so I'll leave you with some links and you can check them out yourself.
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles
Analysis of photo:
http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BOLA1.html
More info including a witness interview:
http://www.rense.com/ufo/battleofla.htm
In the late night hours between Feb 24th and Feb 25th, 1942 about 3 months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, At least one large unknown object was spotted slowly moving over Los Angeles. Being wartime, the city was on a night back out curfew and an air raid alert was called. Searchlights swept the skies and easily settled on a huge round craft of unknown origin.
Several witnesses reported seeing army fighters engage the craft the largest of which was described as a huge light orange round object, to no effect. After several minutes of attacking fighter waves, the fighters were called off and the military opened up on the object with full anti-aircraft artillery. "It was like the Fourth of July but much louder. They were firing like crazy but they couldn't touch it." - (witness named Katie) In fact, many witnesses claimed to see direct hits on the flying unknown without any effect. The "battle" lasted for about 30 minutes as the object drifted out of the city.
Overall the defense fired over 2000 12 pound high explosive shells at the thing scoring several direct hits failing to damage it in any way. Six civilians in the city were killed by falling debris from the shells fired into the sky. The Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade targeted dozens of searchlights on the object and it was quite visible for miles around.
A photographer from the LA Times took a picture, the negative of which as well as a computer cleaned up version is presented below.
The official LA Times Article:
Chilly Throng Watches
Shells Bursting In Sky
By Marvin Miles
Explosions stabbing the darkness like tiny bursting stars... Searchlight beams poking long crisscross fingers across the night sky...Yells of wardens and the whistles of police and deputy sheriffs...The brief on-and-off flick of lights, telephone calls, snatches of conversation: 'Get the dirty...' That was Los Angeles under the rumble of gunfire yesterday.
RESIDENTS AWAKENED
Sleepy householders awoke to the dull thud of explosions... "Thunder? Can't be!" Then: "Air Raid! Come here quick! Look over there...those searchlights. They've got something...they are blasting in with anti-aircraft!" Father, mother, children all gathered on the front porch, congregated in small clusters in the blacked out streets -- against orders. Babies cried, dogs barked, doors slammed. But the object in the sky slowly moved on, caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.
SPECULATION RIFE
Speculation fell like rain. "It's a whole squadron." "No, it's a blimp. It must be because it's moving so slowly." "I hear planes." "No you don't. That's a truck up the street." "Where are the planes then?" "Dunno. They must be up there though." "Wonder why they picked such a clear night for a raid?" "They're probably from a carrier." "Naw, I'll bet they are from a secret air base down south somewhere." Still the firing continued. Like lethal firecrackers, the anti-aircraft rounds blasted above, below, seemingly right on the target fixed in the tenacious beams. Other shots fell short, exploding halfway up the long climb. Tracers sparked upward like roman candles. Metal fell. It fell in chunks, large and small; not enemy metal, but the whistling fragments of bursting ack-ack shells. The menacing thud and clank on streets and roof tops drove many spectators to shelter.
WARDENS DO GOOD JOB
Wardens were on the job, doing a good job of it. "Turn off your lights, please. Pull over to the curb and stop. Don't use your telephone. Take shelter. Take shelter." On every street brief glares of hooded flashlights cut the darkness, warning creeping drivers to stop. Police watched at main intersections. Sirens wailed enroute to and from blackout accidents. There came lulls in the firing. The search lights went out. (To allow the fighter planes to attack?). Angelinos breathed deeply and said, "I guess it's all over." But before they could tell their neighbors good night, the guns were blasting again, sighting up the long blue beams of the lights.
WATCHERS SHIVER
The fire seemed to burst in rings all around the target. But the eager watchers, shivering in the early morning cold, weren't rewarded by the sight of a falling plane. Nor were there any bombs dropped. "Maybe it's just a test," someone remarked. "Test, hell!" was the answer. "You don't throw that much metal in the air unless you're fixing on knocking something down." Still the firing continued, muttering angrily off toward the west like a distant thunderstorm. The targeted object inched along high, flanked by the cherry red explosions. And the householders shivered in their robes, their faces set, watching the awesome scene.
Official responses from the military were eventually handed out as weather balloons, and Japanese blimps despite the fact that Japanese blimps didn't exist in 1942. Doubts were placed on wether there were any objects in the sky at all and the "mass hysteria" explanation was also invoked. In my opinion, this case is a good example of a truly anomalous encounter with an unidentified flying object that was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people. It even had witnesses in the press and photographic evidence, yet due to official meddling and overall confusion it was undermined and has made absolutely no impact on history.
A brief eyewitness statement:
"Scott Littleton writes:
I was an eye-witness to the events of that unforgettable February
morning in February of 1942. I was eight-years-old at the time, and my
parents lived at 2500 Strand in Hermosa Beach, right on the beach. We thus
had a grandstand seat. While my father went about his air-raid warden
duties, my late mother and I watched the glowing object, which was caught in
the glare of searchlights from both Palos Verdes and
Malibu/Pacific/Palisades and surrounded by the puffs of ineffectual
anti-aircraft fire, as it slowly flew across the ocean from northwest to
southeast. It headed inland over Redondo Beach, a couple of miles to the
south of our vantage point, and eventually disappeared over the eastern end
of the Palos Verdes hills, what's today called Rancho Palos Verdes. The
whole incident last, at least from our perspective, lasted about half an
hour, though we didn't time it. Like other kids in the neighborhood, I
spend the next morning picking up of pieces of shrapnel on the beach;
indeed, it's a wonder more people weren't injured by the stuff, as we were
far from the only folks standing outside watching the action.
In any case, I don't recall seeing any truly discernable configuration, just
a small, glowing, slight lozenge-shaped blob light-a single, blob, BTW. We
only saw one object, not several as some witnesses later reported. At the
time, we were convinced that it was a "Jap" reconnaissance plane, and that
L.A. might be due for a major air-raid in the near future. Remember, this
was less than three months after Pearl Harbor. But that of course never
happened. Later on, we all expected "them," that is, the Military, to tell
us what was really up there after the war. But that never happened,
either.."
There is way too much data on this encounter for me to type so I'll leave you with some links and you can check them out yourself.
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles
Analysis of photo:
http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BOLA1.html
More info including a witness interview:
http://www.rense.com/ufo/battleofla.htm