February 24th, 1942, three months after the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor, and a day after Commander Kozo Nishino of the Jap
Navy in I-17 Sub, shelled the Ellwood oil field and refinery 12 miles north of Santa Barbara. Rumor has it Nishino was given
a pre-war tour of Ellwood, and fell into a cactus causing everyone to laugh at him. The attack was his payback.
So the Americans, both military and civilian, were pretty jumpy.
Quote:
The 37th Coast Artillery fired preemptive shells into the air at unidentified objects. 25 planes were reportedly sighted as the
sky lit up with artillery strikes. 1,400 shells were fired into the night sky and the all-clear was only given at 7.21am.
Five US civilians died in the confusion from car accidents and heart attacks.
|
Of course after that night a lot of people were inspecting friendly fire damage or looking for duds and unexploded ordinance,
from those 1400 shots. I’ll just put this unexploded ordinance on the mantle over the fireplace for a souvenir.
Well, what the hell does all this nonsense have to do with UFOs?
The gunners saw 25 planes where there weren’t any planes, so our efficient government made a thorough investigation.
Quote:
The Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox held a press conference, saying the entire incident was a false alarm due to anxiety
and war nerves. It was most likely the anti-aircraft shell bursts that were caught in the searchlights and mistaken for enemy
aircraft. The incident was then seemingly laid to rest as the USA waded into the war.
|
HOWEVER…
Later in 1983, after the movie "1941" came out, the Office of Air Force History concluded that meteorological balloons were the
cause of the alarm and panic.
There you see, I’m vindicated because everybody knows “meteorological balloons” is the government's secret code for UFOs.
link
link
link