The Japanese Balloon Bombs That Reached America

Japan launched over 9,000 Fu-Go balloon bombs across the Pacific using jet streams — the first intercontinental weapons delivery system in history. These paper-mache balloons carried explosive payloads and traveled 6,000 miles in 3-5 days, reaching as far as Michigan and Washington. The U.S. government imposed a complete media blackout — no newspaper reported on the bombs reaching America. One balloon killed five children and a pregnant woman in Bly, Oregon — the only combat casualties on the continental United States during WWII. The Japanese believed the fires they saw starting (shown in their propaganda) were massive conflagrations; in reality, most started in wet forests and fizzled.