1949 Delta, Delta County, Colorado: WW2 Incendiary Balloon

In World War 2, the Japanese military set aloft a flotilla of balloon bombs with the intent of sailing them across the Pacific and into North America to generate terror and showcase that the United States was not invulnerable. Some were found and the government stepped in to ask all newspapers to withhold stories so that the enemy of the day would not learn that - to a certain extent - their balloon incendiary bombs had been a success.  It would not be until after the war that many of the stories - including the deaths of a group on a picnic in the Pacific Northwest - would come to light. See the article on this blog, UFO SKIES: THE 'DEFENSE OF SILENCE": Balloons BEFORE Roswell

One April day in 1946 a rancher, probably riding the land to check on the herd and new calves, found something odd on the ground. The area of the ranch was near 25 Mile Mesa, 6 miles south of southwest Delta.  It looked like it had been there for awhile. He gathered it up, and possibly, being aware of the need to not speak out of turn in a time of war, he put it aside for a few years. 

The objects in the photographs were found in April of 1946 but were not reported until 2 April 1949. Possibly in association with some reported sightings going on in the general wide region of the country. They objects were positively identified as being part of a Japanese Incendiary Balloon. It was reported to Lowery AFB in Denver and the OSI there.  

Cast aluminum wheel with 72 holes in the inside of the ring for explosives io be inserted. It was defined as part of a ballast ring.