Monday, April 17, 2006

Alien Lore 71 - FDR & The UFO over Los Angeles


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Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, America prepared for war in the Pacific. The West Coast was the most likely target. When I was young, I remember seeing the pictures of the Boeing plant with houses, trees, and city life painted on the roof.

We also used barrage balloons at strategic places along the coast. The balloon is attached to the ground with metal cables, that entangle airplanes, hopefully, the propellers. Some of the balloons carried explosive charges that were pulled up against the aircraft, exploding directly against the plance. The West Coast was considered the most likely spot for a Japanese invasion or attack; in the end in fact, there was only one attack against the West Coast


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The government established an Air Warden program, and also established blackout procedures, like those being used in the war in Europe.

February 25, 1942, just after two in the morning, air raid sirens were activated and Los Angeles, California was blacked out. People scrambled from their beds in a panic. Thousands of Air Raid Wardens charged to their posts. Something was heading toward L.A., and it was presumed that it was a Japanese attack.


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As the UFO began approaching the city, the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing anti-aircraft guns at the target. They kept shelling the UFO for an hour. The next day it was learned that three people had been killed from anti-aircraft shrapnel; three others people died of heart failure due to panic. In addition, several homes and businesses were destroyed. The air raid alert was called off at 7:21 a.m that morning.

The Army Air Corps 4th Interceptor Command’s aircraft were ready to go throughout the whole ordeal, but orders to scramble were never given. The UFO over Los Angeles was neither Japanese nor a U.S. commercial aircraft.


Thousands of witnesses to the later described the UFO as a large object that remained motionless over the city the entire time it was being shelled. Eventually, the UFO moved slowly toward Santa Monica and then disappeared from view.

That morning's Los Angeles Times headline said “Army Says Alarm Real.”

President Roosevelt had some questions about that one. . .
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