A balloon floating into U.S. airspace once caused fatal consequences. May 5 marks the 78th anniversary of a relatively unknown tragedy caused by balloon bombs at the tail end of World War II
In fact, a balloon floating into U.S. airspace once caused fatal consequences: May 5 marks the 78th anniversary of a relatively unknown tragedy caused by balloon bombs at the tail end of World War II, when one set off a deadly explosion in the pine forests near Bly, Oregon.
What Elsie and the children didn’t know—but Archie Mitchell did—is that the Imperial Japanese Army had developed an incendiary balloon bomb. This bomb was transported by jet stream 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean by hitching a ride on a balloon, and they had launched about 9,300 of them toward the Western United States.
Are there things about the recent incursion of our air space by the Chinese surveillance balloon that are reminiscent of the Japanese balloon bomb episode during World War II? The intent of the Japanese balloons in World War II was to cause material damage to the United States and even loss of life, which sadly it accomplished. The main difference between the Japanese balloons of World War II and the recent Chinese balloon is that the Japanese balloons were offensive weapons. I’ve seen nothing to indicate there was any such intent with the Chinese balloon.
Secondary to that was that these incendiary devices would ignite wildfires in the Western states and the Americans would have to divert resources that might have been used in the Pacific theater. Also, there was the possibility that these balloons would create panic, leading to a weakening of the morale of the American people.Word of the very first balloons that arrive, the ones in Wyoming and Montana, did make its way into the press.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
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