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. [37], By mid-April 1945, Japan lacked the resources to continue manufacturing balloons, with both paper and hydrogen in short supply. It Happened Here: Japanese balloon bombs found in Yakima Valley To date, only a few hundred of the devices have been found and most are still unaccounted for. 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. In his book Fu-Go: The Curious History of Japans Balloon Bomb Attack on America, author Ross Coen called the weapon the worlds first intercontinental ballistic missile, and the silent delivery of death from pilotless balloons has been referred to as World War IIs version of drone warfare. [1], The balloon bomb concept was developed by the Imperial Japanese Army's Number Nine Research Laboratory (also known as the Noborito Laboratory), founded in 1927. Project Fugo: The Japanese Balloon Bombs - Warfare History Network 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. Between November 1944 and April 1945, more than 9,000 incendiary "balloon bombs" were launched by Japan during the war in hopes of sparking fear, chaos and forest fires in the Western U.S. The investigators learned that the Japanese had planned to make 20,000 balloons, but had fallen short of that mark. Since the 13th century when a pair of cyclones foiled the fleets of Kublai Khans Mongol invaders, the Japanese had long believed that the gods had dispatched divine winds, called kamikaze, to protect them. Elsie, the unborn baby and the five children were killed almost instantly by the blast. [43] A bomb disposal expert guessed that the bomb had been kicked or otherwise disturbed. But the eyewitness accounts of Archie Mitchell and others would not be widely known for weeks. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. What the Japanese military lacked in technology, however, it made up for in geography. [41] Furthermore, much of the western U.S. received disproportionately more precipitation in 1945 than in any other year in the decade, with some areas receiving 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25cm) of precipitation more than normal. [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). A self-destruct system was added; a three-minute fuse triggered by the release of the last bomb would detonate a block of picric acid and destroy the carriage, followed by an 82-minute fuse that would ignite the hydrogen and destroy the envelope. In Bly, Oregon, a Sunday school picnic approached the debris of a balloon. [15] The B-Type balloons were later equipped with a version of the A-Type's ballast system and tested on November 2, 1944; one of these balloons, which was not loaded with bombs, became the first to be recovered by Americans after being spotted in the water off San Pedro, California, on November 4.[16]. Japanese bombs landed in Saskatchewan 71 years ago | CBC News HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Japanese balloon bomb kills 6 in Oregon - by Marc Lancaster A Japanese "Fu-Go" balloon bomb in flight during WWII . [46] A nearby ponderosa pine still bears scars on its trunk from the bomb's shrapnel. Although many Bly locals knew the truth, they reluctantly followed military directives and adopted a code of silence about the tragedy as the media reported that the victims died in an explosion of undetermined origin.. [34] On April 22, officers investigated the nationally-syndicated comic strip Tim Tyler's Luck, which depicted a Japanese balloon being recovered by the crew of an American submarine. At night, cool temperatures risked the balloon falling below the currents, an issue that worsened as gas was released. Archie Mitchell, and a group of Sunday school children from their tight-knit community as they set out for nearby Gearhart Mountain in southern Oregon. Advertising Notice On the morning of May 5, 1945, she decided she felt decent enough to join her husband, Rev. The carriage was attached and the guide ropes were disconnected. Just a few months ago a couple of forestry workers in Lumby, British. They drove east from Bly, Oregon, a little . They would be telling someone about the loss of their sibling and that person just didnt believe them, Sol recalls. Lannie. The tsu site featured its own hydrogen plant, while the second and third battalions used hydrogen gas manufactured at factories near Tokyo. WWII Japanese Wildfire Balloon Bomb Victims Monument in Bly, Oregon Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army launched about 9,300 balloons from sites on Honshu, of which about 300 were found or observed in the U.S. and Canada, with some in Mexico. Fu-Go - Radiolab The girls worked long, exhausting shifts, their contributions to this wartime project shrouded in silence. 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. The bomb recently recovered in British Columbia in October 2014 "has been in the dirt for 70 years," Henry Proce of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told The Canadian Press. The currents had been investigated by Japanese scientist Wasaburo Oishi in the 1920s; in late 1943, the Army consulted Hidetoshi Arakawa of the Central Meteorological Observatory, who used Oishi's data to extrapolate the air currents across the Pacific Ocean and estimate that a balloon released in winter and that maintained an altitude of 30,000 to 35,000 feet (9,100 to 10,700m) could reach the North American continent in 30 to 100 hours. [31] The Kalispell find was originally reported on December 14 by the Western News, a weekly published in Libby, Montana; the story later appeared in articles in the January 1, 1945, editions of Time and Newsweek magazines, as well as on the front page of the January 2 edition of The Oregonian of Portland, Oregon, before the Office of Censorship sent the memo. Few balloons reached their targets, and the jet stream winds were only powerful enough in wintertime when snowy and damp conditions in North American forests precluded the ignition of large fires. So presumably, we may never know the extent of the damage. [36], In late March, the United Press (UP) wrote a detailed story on the balloons intended for its distributors across the country. Japans latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States. US Army Air Corps Chinese surveillance balloon's flight over the US has highlighted the military. Military officials began to piece together that a strange new weapon, with markings indicating it had been manufactured in Japan, had reached American shores. Copyright 2022 by the Atomic Heritage Foundation. After laying out a deflated envelope, hoses were used to fill the envelope with hydrogen before it was tied down with guide ropes and detached from the anchors. Japanese scientists carefully studied what would become commonly known as the jet stream, realizing these currents of wind could enable balloons to reach United States shores in just a couple of days. 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. In January 4, 1945, the Office of Censorship requested that newspaper editors and radio broadcasts not discuss the balloons. In response, intelligence officers of the Seventh Service Command in Omaha called editors at all 91 papers, requesting censorship; this was largely successful, with only two papers printing Miller's column. They discovered that a balloon could hypothetically travel on average 60 hours on this jet stream and successfully reach America. The joint army-navy research into this operation came to an abrupt halt, however, when every submarine was recalled for the Guadalcanal operation in August 1943. The 'extreme cruelty' around the global trade in frog legs, What does cancer smell like? Just then there was a big explosion. They wouldnt have been if that tragedy hadnt happened, Betty Mitchell told Sol in an interview. The combined launching capacity of the sites was about 200 balloons per day, with 15,000 launches planned through March. [Courtesy: National . The girls, however, would not be told what they were making. Heres why each season begins twice. Early U.S. theories speculated that they were launched from German prisoner of war camps or from Japanese-American internment centers. They said a second factor was the lack of information about whether the balloons even reached America and caused damage. Those gathered embodied a sentiment echoed by the Mitchell family. While Archie parked their car, Elsye and the children stumbled upon a strange-looking object in the forest and shouted back to him. Vengeance Balloon Bombs in World War II. The project named Fugo "called for sending bomb-carrying balloons from Japan to set fire to the vast forests of America, in particular those of the Pacific Northwest. In January 1955, the Albuquerque Journal reported that the Air Force had discovered one in Alaska. Japanese Balloon Bombs Strike U.s. West Coast During WWII Japan launched its new war balloon weapon on America. Elsye Mitchell almost didnt go on the picnic that sunny day in Bly, Oregon. Hyde's wild ride: New documentary features former Box Elder sheriff who Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Geological Engineering. The balloon did not have any major consequences. [32] Starting in February 1945, Japanese propaganda broadcasts falsely announced numerous fires and an alarmed American public, further declaring casualties in the hundreds to thousands. 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. [10], Engineers next investigated the feasibility of balloon launches against the United States from the Japanese mainland, a distance of at least 6,000 miles (9,700km). Matthias recalled that although the Hanford plant did lose about two days of production, we were all tickled to death this happened because it proved the back-up system worked. Another bomb was espied a few days later near Kalispell, Mont. At least eight were found in the 1940s, three in the 1950s, two in the 1960s, and one in the 1970s. [7], Also in September 1942, Major General Sueki Kusaba, who had served under Tada in the original balloon bomb program in the 1930s, was assigned to the laboratory and revived the Fu-Go project with a focus on longer flights. One bomb fell in Medford, Ore., Webber said. One of these bombs killed six . The Army mobilized thousands of teenage girls at high schools across the country to laminate and glue the sheets together, with final assembly and inflation tests at large indoor arenas including the Nichigeki Music Hall and Rygoku Kokugikan sumo hall in Tokyo. 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 that would instill panic and divert resources from the war effort. 1. 'It was more of a fear thing': Historian details balloon bomb that The plan was diabolic. Attached were bombs composed of sensors, powder-packed tubes, triggering devices and other simple and complex mechanisms. All Rights Reserved. Coincidentally, the largest consumer of energy on this power grid was theHanford siteof the Manhattan Project, which suddenly lost power. Because the military worried that any report of these balloon bombs would induce panic among Americans, they ultimately decided the best course of action was to stay silent. ", This screen grab from a Navy training film features an elaborate balloon bomb. Yet overall, the military concluded that the attacks were scattered and aimless. The silk material was an effort to create a flexible envelope that could withstand pressure changes. Investigators later determined the origin of the story was a discussion held in an open session of the Colorado General Assembly. These animals can sniff it out. Follow me @NPRHistoryDept; lead me by writing to lweeks@npr.org. We had built special safeguards into that line, so the whole Northwest could have been out of power, but we still were online from either end, saidColonel Franklin Matthias,the officer-in-charge at Hanford during the Manhattan Project, inan interview with Stephane Groueff in 1965. Despite the launches being top secret, once released, balloons were not hidden to those in the neighboring areas. The balloon and parts were taken to Butte, [Mont.] But they have never been bitter over it., These loss of these six lives puts into relief the scale of loss in the enormity of a war that swallowed up entire cities. In addition, the balloons could only be launched during certain wind conditions. In 1984, the Santa Cruz Sentinel noted that Bert Webber, an author and researcher, had located 45 balloon bombs in Oregon, 37 in Alaska, 28 in Washington and 25 in California. Japan's balloon bombs remain little known 70 years after the end of World War II for several reasons. From the Archives: Chinese spy balloon sparks echos of Japanese balloon Sherman Shoemaker, Edward Engen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patzke, and Dick Patzke, all between 11 to 14 years old, were killed, along with Rev. The balloons continued to be discovered across North America on a near daily basis, with sightings and partial or full recoveries in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan (where the easternmost of the balloons was found at Farmington), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; as well as in Canada in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest and Yukon Territories; in northwestern Mexico; and at sea by passing ships. 77777777 Orbeez balloon bomb It was hoped that the fires would create havoc, dampen American morale and disrupt the U.S. war effort," James M. Powles describes in a 2003 issue of the journal World War II. Intent on burning forests and terrorizing the American public, the attacks ultimately failed. an exhibit in Japanese on the Fire Balloons. Experts estimate it took between 30 and 60 hours for a balloon bomb to reach North America's West Coast. 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 . I had been walking around on that stuff and they had not told me! Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? Japanese Balloon Bomb | History Detectives | PBS These so-called "fire balloons" were filled with hydrogen and carrying bombs varying from 11 to 33 pounds, and were part of an experimental Japanese military offensive. On March 13, 1945, two balloons returned to Japan, landing near, This figure includes 11 balloons shot down by the, "Japan's Secret WWII Weapon: Balloon Bombs", "How Geologists Unraveled the Mystery of Japanese Vengeance Balloon Bombs in World War II", "Military unit blows WWII-era Japanese balloon bomb to 'smithereens', Report by U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Center, May 1945, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fu-Go_balloon_bomb&oldid=1142217578, Fu-Go balloon reinflated in California, January 1945, one Type 92 33-pound (15kg) high-explosive, or alternatively to the anti-personnel bomb, one Type 97 26-pound (12kg) incendiary bomb, containing three, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 04:13. One of the thousands of bomb-carrying balloons they launched into the jet stream toward North America knocked out electricity for a . Around 300 of them landed in the United States. How American Secrecy Stopped a Japanese Terror Attack From Balloons Carried by wind currents, the balloon bombs traveled thousands of miles to western U.S. shores. Look what we found,. The final balloon design was 33 feet (10m) in diameter, and had a gas volume of 19,000 cubic feet (540m3) and a lifting capacity of 300 pounds (140kg) at operating altitude. By the end of May 1945, however, the military decided in the interest of public safety to reveal the true cause of the explosion and warn Americans to beware of any strange white balloons they might encounterinformation divulged a month too late for the victims in Oregon. According to a Dec. 14, 1944, newspaper article in the Thermopolis Independent Record, three men and a woman at the Ben Goe Coal mine west of Thermopolis saw a parachute lit up by flares. I ran to one of the cars and asked is Dick dead? According to Powles, "An investigation by local sheriffs determined that the object was not a parachute, but a large paper balloon with ropes attached along with a gas relief valve, a long fuse connected to a small incendiary bomb, and a thick rubber cord. Weaponized Chinese balloon not new, Oregon attacked by Japan in WWII Omaha Was Bombed During WWII - KETV Mitchell and the families of the children lost, the unique circumstances of their devastating loss would be shared by none and known by few. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. (Tribune News Service) In late 1944, the Japanese military began launching 9,000 unmanned bomb-carrying balloons across the Pacific to bombard the West Coast. [9] Sand from the sandbags was studied by the Military Geology Unit of the United States Geological Survey, revealing mineral and diatom compositions that corresponded to Ichinomiya. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed three days later by another on Nagasaki. It was made of 600 pieces of paper. Japanese Vengenance Balloon Bombs of World War II - J. David Rogers This knocked out the power, and our controls tripped fast enough so there was no heat rise to speak of. Japanese bomb-carrying balloons were 10 m (33 ft) in diameter and, when fully inflated, held about 540 m3 (19,000 cu ft) of hydrogen. The Sentinel reported that a bomb had been discovered in southwest Oregon in 1978. It looks like some kind of balloon. The pastor glanced over at the group gathered in a tight circle around the oddity 50 yards away. But the lack of a governed outcome was tempered by the fact that no Japanese troops were at risk. In the aftermath of the explosion, the small, lumber milling community would bear the added burden of enforced silence. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. A Missouri woman was out gardening in her yard last week when she discovered something unexpected in her grapevines a World War II era Japanese bomb. [8], Each launch pad consisted of anchor screws drilled into the ground and arranged in a circle the same diameter as the balloons. All rights reserved. The Japanese balloon bomb, in all its terrible splendor. "Distribution of the balloon bombs was quite large," says Nason. Known as Operation Fu-Go, Japan first started toying with the idea of bomb-laden balloons in the 1930s, but the program began to take on a bit more urgency after April 18, 1942. Reverend Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife Elsie (age 26) drove up Gearhart Mountain that day with five of their Sunday school students for a picnic. Special thanks also for the use of their music to Jeff Taylor , David Wingo for the use of "Opening" and "Doghouse" - from the Take Shelter soundtrack, Justin Walter 's "Mind Shapes" from his album Lullabies and Nightmares . 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. On May 22, the War Department issued a statement confirming the bombs origin and nature so the public may be aware of the possible danger and to reassure the nation that the attacks are so scattered and aimless that they constitute no military threat. The statement was measured to provide sufficient information to avoid further casualties, but without giving the enemy encouragement. Monument to balloon bomb victims near Bly, Oregon. Just after the war, reports came in from far and wide of balloon bomb incidents. What if we could clean them out? They were afraid of bacterial warfare.. The automatic altitude control device allowed the balloon to travel at 30,000 feet during the 3-to-4-day trip to the United States. The risk seemed justified as weeks went by and no casualties were reported. After that luck ran out with the Gearheart Mountain deaths, officials were forced to rethink their approach. The first balloon bomb was set free on Nov. 3, 1944. Balloon Bombs: Japan's Answer to Doolittle > National Museum of the Omaha seemed relatively safe until one night in April when a Japanese bomb dropped in Dundee. Additional launches followed in quick succession. The Japanese bombed Michigan during World War II using balloons Archie Mitchell and his wife Elsie packed five children from their Sunday school class at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church into their car and headed out on a fishing trip. In the "Sunset Project" initiated in early April 1945, the Fourth Air Force attempted to detect the radio transmissions emitted by tracking balloons using sites in coastal Washington; 95 suspected signals were detected, but were of little use for interception due to the relatively low percentage of balloons with transmitters, and observed fading of the signals as they approached the coast. Is Jay dead? "It just made a big hole in the ground.". The balloons rose to about 30,000 feet, where winds aloft transported them across the Pacific Ocean. Location. They sent a bus up with all of this specially trained personnel, gloves, full contamination suits, masks. Balloon bombs aimed to be the silent assassins of World War II. In subsequent weeks, the strip's storyline saw the protagonists fight monster vines that sprang from seeds the balloon was carrying, created by an evil Japanese horticulturalist. The team was co-headed byKarl T. Compton, a longtime scientific advisor to the US government, and Edward Moreland, a scientist hand-picked by General MacArthur. Japanese Balloon Bombs Marker. Peace Is a Chain Reaction: How World War II Japanese Balloon Bombs [11] Engineers sought to make use of strong seasonal air currents discovered flowing from west to east at high altitude and speed over Japan, known now as the jet stream. As reports of isolated sightings (and theories on how they got there, ranging from submarines to saboteurs) made their way into a handful of news reports over the Christmas holiday, government officials stepped in to censor stories about the bombs, worrying that fear itself might soon magnify the effect of these new weapons. The weapon was a huge balloon made of four layers of impermeable mulberry paper. Japanese fire balloon reinflated at Moffett Field, California, after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945. According to this interview, the Japanese Army had known that it would not be an effective weapon, but pursued it for the morale boost. When you talk about something like that, as bad as it seems when that happened and everything, I look at my four children, they never would have been, and Im so thankful for all four of my children and my ten grandchildren. "Code 'Fu' [Weapon]") was an incendiary balloon weapon (, fsen bakudan, lit. Chinese spy balloon sparks echos of Japanese balloon bombs during WWII Beware Of Japanese Balloon Bombs : NPR History Dept. : NPR Winds of war: Japan's balloon bombs - Tim HornyakTim Hornyak From November 1944 to April 1945, Japan's Special Balloon Regiment launched 9,000 high altitude balloons loaded with bombs over the Pacific Ocean. As one of the children reached down to touch it, the minister began to shout a warning but never had a chance to finish. When Japan Launched Killer Balloons in World War II - HISTORY In the end, there would be about 300 incidents recorded with various parts recovered, but no more lives lost. The bomb that exploded . Tests of the design in August 1944 indicated success, with several balloons releasing radiosonde signals for up to 80 hours (the maximum time allowed by the batteries). Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. For Rev. It was a tragic thing that happened, says Judy McGinnis-Sloan, Betty Mitchells niece. A canister from the balloon's incendiary bomb was found by a man. total war effort mindset preached by the Japanese Empire, an interview with Stephane Groueff in 1965, Fu-Go: The Curious History of Japan's Balloon Bomb Attack on America, Japans World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America. It's. "It would have been far too dangerous to move it. Their deaths caused the military to break its silence and begin issuing warnings to not tamper with such devices. The first Black paratroopers and their secret mission in Oregon - KGW Map by Jerome N. Cookson, National Geographic; source: Dave Tewksbury, Hamilton College. [44], A memorial, the Mitchell Monument, was built in 1950 at the site of the explosion. They suspected that the balloons were being launched fromnearby Japanese relocation camps, or German POW camps. The sand was unique enough to narrow the source down to two areas on the island of Honshu. "They put some C-4 on either side of this thing," Proce said, "and they blew it to smithereens. Mitchell was later kidnapped from a leprosarium while he and Betty were serving as missionaries in Vietnam; 57 years later his fate remains unknown). Their launch sites were located on the east coast of the main Japanese island of Honsh. [10] The balloons were constructed from four to five thin layers of washi, a durable paper derived from the paper mulberry (kzo) bush, which were glued together with konnyaku (Japanese potato) paste. A month later, on December 6, 1944, witnesses reported an explosion and flame near Thermopolis, Wyoming.