“The Battle of Los Angeles” (also called the “Los Angeles Air Raid”) occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 1942. Just two months after Pearl Harbor, people living on the west coast were still paranoid about a Japanese attack. And with small cause because the day before a Japanese sub had bombed California. The I-17, commanded by Kozo Nishino, had fired at an oil facility near Santa Barbara. A derrick and a pump house were destroyed causing only $500 property damage. There were no casualties. California was now on high alert. Around 2 A.M. on Feb. 24, radar picked up an unidentified object. Air raid sirens wailed and soon after an anti-aircraft gun opened fire. Soon, every anti-aircraft gun was spraying the sky over the city with fire. Searchlights were ablaze. Many claimed to have sighted aircraft over the city, although no bombs were dropped. The panic lasted over an hour. Three people died in car accidents and two died of heart attacks. No Japanese were hurt. However, twenty Japanese-Americans were subsequently arrested for signaling the Japanese planes. Although Secretary of War Henry Stimson backed the sensationalism of the newspapers by claiming that at least 15 planes had buzzed the city, the government quickly reported officially that there had been no attack. This was deemed a cover-up by many. Some insisted there was a secret Japanese base in Mexico. Others that Japanese subs carrying planes were plying the coast. There were those who claimed the attack was staged to get California war plants to move to the interior. After all, was it really a coincidence that Hollywood was right there and capable of putting on a show? Sadly, an investigation in 1949 zeroed in on a runaway meteorological balloon that was picked up by radar. Boring! Since then, ufologists have concentrated on a photo of searchlights supposedly tracking a UFO to propose that the incident involved aliens. And, of course, some eyewitnesses claimed to have seen unidentified objects that night. Now I want you to imagine what our current 24/7 news would do with this today.
https://www.history.com/news/world-war-iis-bizarre-battle-of-los-angeles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles
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