In the last two years of the war, Japan launched thousands of "fire balloons," hydrogen-filled craft made from paper, glue and aluminum, that rode the jet stream across the Pacific with payloads of incendiary and antipersonnel bombs. The Japanese war ministry hoped the random descent of these stealth weapons over populated areas would create panic among American civilians.Floating at 30,000 feet, they were beyond the range of most U.S. fighter planes. They made the 5,000-mile trip in about three days and went as far as Mexico, Michigan and Iowa.
In Oregon, a woman and five children were killed when they happened upon one at a picnic, the only American deaths caused by the devices.
Of more than 9,000 balloons launched, various sources speculate that 1,000 or more made the trip with their payloads intact. Fewer than 300 have ever been found.
Liam Callanan, whose novel "The Cloud Atlas" featured a soldier trying to find balloon bombs in Alaska, said that a recurring eddy in the jet stream sent a disproportionate number of these bombs to Alaska, though the territory was not their primary target. He said that one bomb, recovered near Bethel, contained a post card from a Japanese boy to his soldier father.
In researching his novel, Callanan learned that the last functioning balloon bomb was discovered near Fort Yukon in 1955. Several Web sites say that the last nonfunctioning fire balloon was also found in Alaska, in 1992, but the Daily News was unable to confirm details of that claim.
Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.