The Secret Battle of Los Angeles!
With tensions at an all-time high after the Pearl Harbour attack, countless Americans were anticipating terrorist retaliation on home soil.
US War Secretary, Henry Stimson, had announced a warning that had put towns on high alert for the “occasional blows” from opposition forces.
Nevertheless, neither the United States army nor it’s people were ready for what would unwind in the first hours of the day.
In anticipation of the Japanese Attack of Pearl Harbor
It would all start a day ahead in the evening when marine corps intelligence had commanded troops on the shoreline of California to prepare for the attack by Japanese soldiers. Following the tip-off, the soldiers posted by the beach were shocked to see a lack of movement in the hours to come.
But, soon after 2 a.m on February 25, opposition movement was picked up by radar about 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Instantly a city-wide blackout was put into force. It was then blasting air raid signals that had made the people of the city worry for the worst.
On the battleground, United States troops have spent no time manning anti-air cannons and scouring the skies with lights. It was about 3 a.m when the gunfire started. With reports of UFO wandering the skies, troops in Santa Monica engaged fly machine gunfire.
It didn’t take long for the city’s different coastal protection weapons to engage as well in search of this mysterious object in the sky. Rounds of glowing shrapnel packed the skies, making it look like the city of Los Angeles was under fire.
Having stated that, those who set their gaze upon the night skies remained unable to pick up anything but smoke, no signs of opposition aircraft floating in formation as the statements had alleged. The blast of attacks ultimately came to an end on an hour into the attack.
A result of 1,400 shots anti-air munitions used for an hour, An ‘All Clear’ order was issued later in the morning, making it secure for the people to go out and to see the extent of the destruction done.
It happened in the morning when American troops had got to an extraordinary discovery: that there were no revealing indications of an attack.
Although statements made on that day were opposing one another, a public announcement made by Army’s Western Defence Command made it clear that there was no spy aircraft shot down nor were there any dropped bombs.
The only damage from the battle had come from friendly fire. While there were no severe losses recorded, at least five people lost their lives that were the result of heart attacks and car collisions that had taken place through the attack.
Battle of Los Angeles News Coverage
For the next week, ranging stories had made its way into the media. These reports had witnesses insisting on having seen a ‘big floating thing resembling a blimp’ while other witnesses had claimed to have observed enemy planes as many as 15.
The more you review the events of that night, the more unusual the Battle of Los Angeles becomes. Japanese aircraft had never during World War 2, traveled over the city.
This bit of news had fed a strange and bizarre conspiracy theories that involve state and visits by extraterrestrial or flying saucers.
Today the most sensible interpretation for what went down at the Battle of Los Angeles is a little false alarm created by flawed electronics systems and trigger light troops who would have taken the chance to fire at anything in sight following the warning.
While it is most probable that the Battle of Los Angeles was nothing but a little false alarm, it’s influence on the people at the time is a chilling reminder of how scary conflict can indeed be.
After The Battle of Los Angeles, a few other real Japanese efforts to attack US soil, but none of those would ever come close to generating the level of mass confusion that was brought by the Battle of Los Angeles.
