The Bombing of Canada and the Continental United States from Japan
( Not the V weapon; think the B weapon, but without engines)
BALLOONS 2.0 : Trans Pacific balloons using the jet stream from Asia overflying US and Canadian airspace is nothing new, and what you are about to read was one of the most closely guarded secrets by our government during World War II.
How was Japan able to bomb Canada and 16 U.S. states as far east as Detroit, Michigan???
Japan used the high altitude jet stream to float balloons armed with bombs to start forest fires in the Pacific NW and British Columbia, and to spread panic in North America.
This is a story worth telling as war time censorship and a rapidly declining GREATEST GENERATION leave fewer Americans who know the story.
Japan released over 9,000 balloons in 1944 and 1945 before they abandoned the project because of a lack of information about the success of the balloons reaching North America.
Hundreds of the balloons did reach North America and one was confirmed 10 miles northwest of DETROIT!
The US military viewed the attacks as a serious matter because of the possibility of the balloons use of "germ warfare" and the potential panic that could result.
Strict censorship prevailed! The US Geological Survey analyzed the sand from the ballast bags of intact balloons and were able to determine the exact beach where the sand was taken in Japan.
US bombers were able to destroy two of the three hydrogen gas production plants nearby where the sand came from and coupled with a lack of information the Japanese military abandoned the project in April, 1945.
The entire Japanese project only cost about 2 million dollars. Was it a failure?
It tied up thousands of US civilians and troops who were on call and did put out forest fires.
There was a real threat to the civilian population as a minister's wife and five children died at a church picnic in the country near Bly, Oregon. The party discovered a downed balloon and one of the kids touched an unexploded bomb, killing all six people.
One of the balloons landed in the power lines that supplied electricity to the Hanford River production plant on March 10, 1945. The resulting electrical short shut off power to the plant for 1/5 of a second.
Why the big deal? The Hanford River plant in Washington state was developing the weapons grade PLUTONIUM for the Trinity site New Mexico Atom bomb and the "FAT MAN" atomic bomb that was later used on Nagasaki. The power lines supplied the electricity for the cooling pumps to keep the nuclear reactors from overheating. Overheating leads to a meltdown and the "China Syndrome"!!!
The backup electrical systems came on line after 1/5 of a second but that slight disruption set back production for THREE DAYS. A minimal investment by Japan in their high altitude bombing balloons almost disrupted America's ultimate weapons system.
Had the US not developed the atomic bomb the Navy Department was seriously considering attacking Japan with the ultimate bomb: A BOMB CARRIED BY A MAMMAL!
NOTE: This post was updated to add some perspective to ongoing events our nation is experiencing.
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