The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 60: How a UFO Caused the Battle of Los Angeles

Episode Date: June 26, 2022

THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES   On February 25, 1942, at about 2:30 in the morning, the people of Los Angeles were jolted awake by the sound of air-raid sirens.   The city was ordered to blackout and prepare for an attack.   Searchlights sprang to life, frantically scanning the sky above the city for enemy aircraft. Finally, the lights converged on a single object.  As frightened citizens stepped on to their porches and lawns to get a glimpse of the target, the sky erupted with hundreds of explosions of fire, smoke and steel.   The Battle of Los Angeles had begun. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Hey, it's your buddy AJ from the Y-Files. And Hecklefish.

Right, and Hecklefish. We just wanted to tell you that if you want to start a podcast, Spotify makes it easy. It'd have to be easy for humans to understand it. Will you stop that? I'm just saying. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts from your computer. I don't have a computer.

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payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down?

I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial. I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This would go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. On February 25th, 1942, at about 2.30 in the morning, the people of Los Angeles were jolted awake by the sound of air raid sirens.

The city was ordered to black out and prepare for an attack. Searchlights sprang to life, frantically scanning the sky above the city for enemy aircraft. Finally, the lights converged on a single object. As frightened citizens stepped out of their homes to get a glimpse of the target, the sky erupted with hundreds of explosions of fire, smoke, and steel. The Battle of Los Angeles had begun. After the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor, the entire west coast of the United States was on edge. Henry Stimson, the Secretary of War, warned that American cities should be prepared for attacks from enemy forces.

Blackouts and nightly curfews were common from Alaska all the way to San Diego, and rumors circulated about Japanese battle groups invading the coast and of enemy spies infiltrating the local population. In the early morning of February 23rd, just weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese submarine I-17 stalked off the coast of Santa Barbara. It quickly surfaced, fired 25 explosive shells at an oil field, then slipped back beneath the sea. Though the physical damage was minor, the psychological message was clear. America's coast was vulnerable to any attack at any time. The word went out from U.S. military intelligence.

West Coast cities should brace for an attack within the next 8 to 12 hours. The entire L.A. area was put on high alert. And early the following day, just after 1.30 in the morning, a radar station picked up a strange object in the sky over the Pacific, about 200 miles from L.A. By 2 a.m., two other radar stations confirmed the object, now only 120 miles off the coast. It was big, moving fast, and headed directly for the city. By 3 a.m., the object, which was now reported as about 25 planes at 12,000 feet,

was just off the coast of Santa Monica, only a few miles from downtown LA. The city was ordered to black out. Anti-aircraft batteries were spun up, manned, loaded, and told to shoot on sight. Then suddenly, the object vanished from radar. It disappeared?

Well, from radar, yes. But visual sightings were coming in from all over the city. Some people reported seeing one large ship. Others saw multiple aircraft flying in formation. At about 3.15 a.m., the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade saw six planes.

And for the next hour, anti-aircraft explosions lit up the sky. As shrapnel rained on the city below, sightings continued to come in. The large object had turned south and eventually disappeared over Long Beach. At 4.14 a.m., all clear was sounded and a few hours later, the blackout order was lifted. When the sun came up and the smoke cleared, over 1,400 high-explosive artillery shells and countless.50 caliber rounds had been fired. Several people on the ground had been killed in car accidents

or died of heart attacks from the stress of the barrage, but there was no evidence of any downed aircraft. No bombs had been dropped. The only damage was from friendly fire. So civilians and military personnel alike were asking, what were we shooting at? You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island

scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest while you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible.

You sailed beyond the horizon. In search of an island. Scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest while you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. In the 80 years since the Battle of Los Angeles, LA has been one of the busiest hotspots in the world for UFO sightings. And some of these reports come from highly credible, experienced military sources.

And these sightings are covered in Project Blue Book, the Air Force program that investigated over 12,000 UFOs between 1952 and 1969. And Project Blue Book was able to identify the vast majority of the sightings as birds, clouds, or balloons. Right. Out of the 12,000 cases, there are still 701 unsolved, unexplained objects

that have been documented in Project Blue Book. Of the 700 cases, the object over L.A. in 1942 remains unexplained. I am here to discuss the so-called flying saucers. We have received and analyzed between 1,000 and 2,000 reports. We've been able to explain them as hoaxes, as erroneously identified friendly aircraft, as meteorological or electronic phenomena phenomena or as light aberrations. However, there have been a certain percentage of this volume of reports that have been made by

credible observers of relatively incredible things. We can say that the recent sightings are in no way connected with any secret development by any agency of the United States. A Japanese air attack was the most logical explanation. Even though 250 anti-aircraft guns filled the sky with explosions and shrapnel, there were no confirmed hits or downed targets. After the war, the Japanese military claimed they had no aircraft in the area at that time, just the one sub. A local police officer claims he saw two planes shot down,

but there was no evidence of that on the ground. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox said this was just a false alarm, an overreaction due to jitters. But the Army disagreed. They said the alert was absolutely real. The Army report said as many as 15 planes may have been involved, flying at various speeds and altitudes. The after-action reports from the

4th Anti-Aircraft Command gives us a timeline of what transpired that morning. At 2.43 a.m., a gun officer reports identified planes near Long Beach. At 3.28 a.m., Battery G of the 78th Coastal Artillery reports at least 25 heavy bombers in the area. And at 3.33 a.m., 15 planes are spotted. There are 37 separate military reports, including one from a colonel. All saw something over L.A. during this time. If this event was nothing more than jitters, why are there so many eyewitness reports of something in the sky? And how does that explain three separate radar hits? Radar tracked an object for 45 minutes for over 100 miles.

So what was it? Well, let's look at the clues. Major Keyhole, what is your opinion of these new sightings of unidentified objects? With all due respect to the Air Force, I believe that some of them will prove to be of interplanetary origin. During a three-year investigation, I found that many pilots have described

objects of substance and high speed. One case, pilots reported their plane was buffeted by an object which passed them at 500 miles an hour. Obviously, this was a solid object that I believe was from outer space. Supporters of the UFO theory say the radar hits are absolute proof of a UFO. But remember, this is 1942.

Radar technology wasn't perfect. A World War II radar system could be thrown off by weather, birds, or any number of naturally occurring phenomena. In fact, one of the three radar operators reported the target as being doubtful. There's a 70-page report in Project Blue Book of a UFO spotted just south of LA a few years later. It was tracked on radar for eight hours and seen by 30 people. Helicopters and jets were dispatched to track it, but there was nothing there. The official report is radar was confused by the weather and eyewitness accounts were due to people's overreactive imaginations. Skeptics say this is what happened in 1942. Dirty people imagine the same thing. That's the report. UFO makes more sense. I can't disagree. But what about the famous photograph of the object over LA?

This photo was printed in the LA Times. We can clearly see the searchlights converging on something in the sky, which is in the shape of a saucer or a football. But it turns out this photo was enhanced and possibly retouched. Now this isn't necessarily scandalous. It was very common to enhance photos to make them more visible in newsprint.

The photo was definitely doctored, but it wasn't faked. But the original photo is very different than what was printed. It's underexposed and doesn't really show anything besides the lights, which look very faint. And there's no way to track the original because the negative is gone. The negative that's in the LA Times photo archives is not the original, something that's only recently been discovered. When investigators worked with the LA Times to try to track down the original, they came to the conclusion that the investigators worked with the LA Times to try to track down the original, they came to the conclusion that the photo used in the LA Times

isn't actually a photo from an LA Times photographer. So where did it come from? Nobody knows. We can see that some of the light beams go through the object, but a couple of the beams do stop. If there was nothing in the sky, wouldn't we expect the light to continue into the distance?

So if there's an object there, why wasn't it shot down by the ordnance that was in the air that night? Well, some people say it was shot down, and they claim they can prove it. The unidentified object moved slowly down the Pacific coast from Santa Monica and disappeared south of Long Beach. Several observers say they saw one or more planes spotlighted by 20 or 30 searchlights. Shells frequently could be seen bursting near the object, but none appeared to hit it. Approximately 20 minutes after the firing died down, the ship returned and headed westward from Long Beach toward Santa Monica.

Then the ship disappeared for the second time over the ocean. Some military historians and investigators researching the Battle of Los Angeles believe something was definitely in the air that night. And the answer is in the official report. The report from the 4th Anti-Aircraft Command reveals that large weather balloons were launched at 3 a.m. I can't believe it. I know.

Weather balloons again? I know. Who's launching balloons in the middle of a freaking attack? Now, that's a fair question, but it was common practice to check weather conditions in order to assist anti-aircraft gunners with targeting. If there was a balloon over Los Angeles, it definitely would have been spotted. You had over 250 guns pointed at the sky, and there were over a thousand civilian air raid wardens also keeping watch.

They couldn't miss it. So, the report claims, when the commander realized there was a weather balloon in a hot zone, he ordered it destroyed. But once the shooting starts, people are going to panic, and there's going to be more shooting. A likely story. Hey, that's the theory. Then what about all the reports

of planes and bombers and what have you? Well, there's no explanation for those. Aha! There were also multiple reports of an actual crashed aircraft in the middle of the city. And this was confirmed by the LAPD's 77th precinct. So, what did they find?

You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Now, it's one thing to be a tinfoil hat claiming to see a crashed UFO. No offense.

None taken. But it's another thing when there's an actual police report about it. But the official government response is whatever fell from the sky was likely shrapnel and burnt embers from all the exploding shells obviously the government had to explain what happened especially with this level of war paranoia but saying this was an alien craft or even admitting they didn't know what the object was wasn't going to fly the late Dr Robert Wood believed there was a cover-up he was an aerospace engineer who worked for Sikorsky Hughes McDon McDonnell Douglas, and Lockheed. The usual suspects.

Yep. After he retired, Dr. Wood researched and exposed Majestic 12 and other secret government projects. He was sent five leaked documents about the Battle of Los Angeles, and at least one of them has been authenticated. One of the documents is a memo between FDR and George Marshall, the Army's chief of staff. It's dated one week after the incident. The memo says that two craft were shot down, one over the ocean and another over the San Bernardino Mountains near LA. The document reads, This headquarters has come to a determination that

the mystery airplanes are, in fact, not earthly. And according to secret intelligence sources, they are in all probability of interplanetary origin. Well, that settles it, aliens! Well, not so fast. The government denies the memo. That means it's definitely true. And Dr. Wood received photocopies, not originals. So there's no way to test the paper or the ink or authenticate them as genuine. And you really can't trust an anonymous source.

And it doesn't stop the media. That's a good point. Still, there's no conclusive evidence. And this case, 80 years later, remains unsolved. So if there was a flying object in the skies above Los Angeles in February 1942, to this day, it remains unidentified. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. My name is AJ. That's Hecklefish.

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