The Battle For/Of Los Angeles
A mysterious case of firefight against nothing
During WWII, right after Pearl Harbor, America was in a state of paranoia about another attack on US soil. Two days after Pearl Harbor, on December 9th, 1941, there were claims that aircraft were approaching New York City. This sent a lot of people into a minor panic, and also sent stock prices tumbling. On the west coast, inexperienced pilots and radar men had mistaken fishing boats, logs, and even whales for Japanese warships and submarines.
While some of the fears seemed unfounded, the US Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, warned that American cities should be prepared to accept an occasional attack from enemy forces. In fact, on February 23rd, 1942, a Japanese sub surfaced off the coast of Santa Barbara, and after supposedly striking down a boat, it hurled more than 12 artillery shells at an oil field and refinery. It resulted in no casualties and minor damage but it marked the first time that the mainland US had been bombed during WWII.
The next day, February 24th, 1942, naval intelligence instructed units on the California coast to steel themselves for a potential Japanese attacks. Shortly after 2am on February 25th, 1942, military radar picked up what appeared to be an enemy contact around 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Air raid sirens sounded and a blackout wiped across the city. Within minutes, troops had manned anti-aircraft guns and began sweeping the skies with searchlights. At just after 3am, the shooting started. Some people reported an unidentified object in the sky. Troops in Santa Monica unleashed a barrage of anti-aircraft and .50 caliber machine gun fire. Many of the cities armed their coastal defense weapons and join in. While it seemed like Los Angeles was under attack, many who searched the skies saw nothing but smoke and fire.
However, other reports poured in from across the city, describing Japanese aircraft flying in formation. Other reports said that bombs were falling and that enemy paratroopers were dropping into the city. Some claimed that a Japanese plane crashed in the streets of Hollywood. By the time that the “all clear” was given, over 1,400 rounds were pumped into the sky, and in the light of day, military units made the discovery that there was no attack. They had not been fired upon, and no enemy planes or artillery had destroyed anything in Los Angeles. There seemed to not have been anything that attacked Los Angeles. The Army Western Defense Command said, “Although reports were conflicting and every effort is being made to ascertain the facts, it is clear that no bombs were dropped and no planes were shot down.” The only damage during the so-called “battle” was only from friendly fire. One dud landed in a Long Beach golf course and several homes were partially destroyed by three-inch artillery shells.
It is reported that at least five people died as a result of heart attacks and car accidents during the blackout, and authorities arrested around 20 Japanese Americans for “trying to signal the nonexistent aircraft.” The Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, dismissed the firefight as a false alarm, which he claimed was brought on by jittery nerves. However, the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, claimed that at least 15 planes had buzzed the city. He also added to the theory that the planes they may have seen might have been commercial aircraft “operated by enemy agents” that were hoping to strike fear into the public. Stimpson later backpedaled his claims, but this didn’t stop many civilians and military personnel that claimed to have seen aircrafts over the area.
Some people claimed to see “a big floating balloon,” while others claimed to have spotted anywhere from one to several dozen planes. However, the Japanese military later claimed that it had never flown aircraft over the city during WWII. In 1983, the Office of Air Force History outlined the events of the Los Angeles air raid. They noted that meteorological balloons had been release prior to the firefight that were released to help determine wind conditions.
At the end of the day, it seems as though the US military may have over reacted. Although, they had reason to worry as they had been fired upon via submarines only the day before. While some people believe that they saw UFOs and may believe that aliens may have been involved. Given what I have found on the subject, however, I believe it was just a case of precaution and that some people just got a bit too trigger happy.
I hope you liked this article! This one was bit of a short one, I know. I’m working on trying to find subjects that might be a bit of a longer read, but I’ve also been quite busy so finding time to sit down and write articles can be difficult! The next article will be about interesting historical places in California and their stories, Dan the Miner and John Muir’s Giant Sequoia, for examples. I hope you will tune in to read about those! I’m excited.
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