WW2 Japanese Incendiary Balloon Bombs in the U.S.

Many such balloon bombs reached American shores in WW2: far more than the North American people were ever made to realize during the 1944-1945 time or later. One killed several on a picnic in Oregon, one hit a power line in Washington, one down in Utah, one in Kansas, and one apparently blew up in the high plains country of Delta, Colorado and was found by a rancher in 1946.

There were others sent aloft between Nov. 1944 and April 1945 but the government had solicited the cooperation of the media (newspapers and radio) to keep a lid on it the Japanese stopped the flights and most considered the idea just another failure in the contest to build better more destructive weapons. Locations where they were found to have landed include: Japan released the first of these bomb-bearing balloons on November 3, 1944. They were found (according to Wikipedia) in Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Mexico, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and Yukon Territory.

The Japanese Fusen-bakudan (Balloon bomb) was launched to use the Pacific Jet Stream from Nov. 1944 to April 1945 before the program was halted. Project Blue Book case # 330 concerned the finding of debris near Montrose, Colorado. Newspapers quoted that Noah L. Chubb had found it in the area of X Delta, Colorado) and turned it over to Air Force Intelligence and believed, in an April 7, 1949 newspaper article that the object might have been responsible for the 'flying discs' reports in the area during 1947. Examination of the arc shaped objects of a wheel shaped material, 4 ft. in diameter, with aluminum construction on the rim, 1-2 inches, with tube like wicks every two inches of brass construction dated its discovery at 4 April 1946 and a positive identification of the object as a ballast ring from a Japanese incendiary bomb.

While the need for secrecy during the conflict is understandable, the secrecy and lack of inclusion of the success of these objects, had tremendous impact on the history of the conflict, the manner in which the U.S. protected itself and left he American people with a false sense of protection that might have contributed to a greater willingness to wage war or assert authority over others due to a false sense of superiority. The question can be asked: what would have been the reactions of citizens in learning, after the fact, that they were not as safe as they had supposed? Would that have tempered war like rhetoric? Would that have made peace a greater imperative in situations of global or continental tensions?

The Allies, especially the American forces, had greater numbers and greater firepower but in this instance it was an ancient science of flight coupled with ingenuity that almost - almost - could have made a reality the rhetoric Japan spread at the time of American cities and forests ablaze and people trembling in fear.

What lessons might this provide for how an extraterrestial group might approach the human race? Big thoughts about big issues....

Further reading:

http://www.burnpit.us/2016/11/japanese-begin-release-incendiary-balloons-spread-terror-america

https://www.utahhumanities.org/stories/items/show/240

 https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/japanese-balloon-bombs-fu-go

Hidden Patterns in UFO Sightings?

That is a question raised many times over the course of modern UFO research.  Since the numbers most often used are also the most questionable (the Air Force Project Blue Book data) the issue is truly confused.

Yet, those records do reveal some odd possibilities.

Project Blue Book only lists 75 cases for 1947 (despite newspapers revealing dozens and more that did not make it into the official record). Ten years later, however, there is a peak in data, showing 953 cases for 1957. The apparent cycle breaks down because by 1967 (which should have revealed another spike) the number is only 658; the spike was 1966 with 888. The coincidence of the apparent decade cycle suddenly vanishing makes one wonder - is the 658 an accurate number?  Faced with the coming closure of the project there may have been a concentrated effort to minimize the reported sightings, and especially the number of unidentifiable.

Proving this pattern valid would require data for 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007, etc.

There is also evidence for a possible seven year cycle and all such cycles are flexible due to the over two hundred "undated" digital records, the missing records, and the cases that are recorded (but missing from PBB) in newspapers, NICAP, and APRO files.

Aliens

The familiar 'gray' can be seen in iconography from many cultures and eras. Earliest descriptions of the modern era include this being or a variation of it with greater regularity than any other.

Drawing of beings seen in the early 1960's by a Kansas resident.

The following "Dance of Death" mural may date to the mid-1400's and there are several mysteries surrounding it and others like it found elsewhere. The symbolism is odd and the meaning may have been obscured by the intrusion of later artists inserting known figures into the "march".  The familiar symbol of the thin, bald, featureless figure is apparent and said to symbolize death but the style appears unique.

Experimental Craft - DM-1 Glider

DM-1 Glider - Langley test of Aug. 1, 1946... Oddly, there are some reports of an object, disc or delta shape, with a fin projecting up from center or toward rear almost as tall as the object was long. So, there may have been wider range testing of this or another version that was recorded as a "UFO" in Project Blue Book pages.  It is accepted that some objects were mis-identifications, some were weather balloons (with or without any secret tst projects associated), some were mis-identifications of meteors, planets, and stars, and some were simple aircraft ( or not so simple early test projects such as U2 and others). These explanations do not, however, fulfill all the accounts of witnesses in numerous cases of craft performing as of yet unattainable speeds, maneuvers, and utilizing non regulation lighting for movement in air space. This craft was roughly 20 feet by 20 feet.  This craft led to other designs: Convair delta fighters such as XP-92, XF-92A, XFY, F2Y, F-102 and F-106 (Wikipedia).

Mitglieder der Akaflieg München - Akaflieg München e.V.

See the Project Blue Book file from 1 April 1952 on the subject of experimental craft (https://archive.org/details/1952-04-12428012-BLANK/mode/2up)

The Objects: 1947

In the Schulgen Memo of 1947 specific characteristics of the  unidentified objects were being reported and these elements were compiled into one collection document. This is an official document of Brigadier General George Schulgen of the USAF, Chief Air Intelligence Requirements Division and the elements that are noted are those that were of most concern to officials at the time.

The Craft :

• Had flat relatively flat bottoms
• This surface was extremely light reflective
• No sound (except in a vary instance of a small roar as the object underwent super performance)
• Extreme levels of maneuverability
• Hovering or apparent hovering capability
• Oval or disc shaped plan form (structure)
• Dome shape on the top
• No exhaust ( a few rare times a blue one reported (like a diesel engine exhaust and it persisted for about an hour. Other rare cases reported a brownish color - possibly related to a special catalyst or chemical agent for enhanced speed)
• High speed disappearance or disintegration
• Sudden appearance (as if descended from extreme altitude)
• Size of a C-54 or Constellation type aircraft
• Evasive, maneuvered actions

In this memo dated  28 October 1947, revealed some clues that authorities were exploring the possibility of German craft begun by the Horton's and others in Germany might have some

First jet - Horton Ho229

connection. The planet where several Horton Flying Wings were built was, at the time of the memo, in Russian hands ( http://project1947.com/fig/schulgen.htm).  With the Russians actively engaged in espionage and the development of an atomic weapon of their own, nerves and suspicions were in play. It will be recalled that in many newspapers at the time of Roswell, the big story was the leak that secret files had been stolen some months before from a New Mexico facility. The timing is interesting given both the Roswell event and the seriously interesting events of three sightings at and around Muroc Base in California on July 8 (the day the Roswell story broke and was front page).

Wikipedia: "The Ho 229 had potential, but was too late to see service. The Horten brothers also worked on the Horten H.XVIII, an intercontinental bomber that was part of the Amerikabomber project. Among other advanced Horten designs of the 1940s was the supersonic delta-wing H.X, designed as a hybrid turbojet/rocket fighter with a top speed of Mach 1.4, but tested only in glider form (as the Horten H.XIII)."

Mention of the two untrained but gifted designers is clear, less certain is why Schulgen included a search "particularly, for the sister."  Was she too a designer of merit? 
Read more at this page (http://www.ufopages.com/Control/Reference/AF_R01.htm?Sign-01a,Default-01a).

In other, later (1952), reports there will be mention of speculative plans for glider craft and other alternative designs that bear exploration to uncover if they were part of what kept Project Blue Book operating to protect top secret craft development by1) Military (the three main branches kept united through division of tasks and research related to the Missile and Space Program, 2) CIA/Covert Agencies, and 3) the Government. Those designs included the Lippisch delta wing designs (SF5U and XP5U-1, the Horton H-VIII ( a 60  passenger craft with a 50 wing span) and a glider, DM-1, from Lippisch delta wing collection with a wing span of 19.7 feet and wighed only 1000 pounds. There are some later, uttlerly silent craft sightings that, given the years sighted might better reflect development of a larger glider aircraft.  The fact the CIA and Northrup both destroyed a fast collection of project records and test results from the early years is highly suggestive.

They Doth Protest Too Much

From my "Smoking Gun" files come these intriguing quotes from 1952 and report concerning Project Blue Book. In a file with the name 'Ruppelt' penciled on it, and some handwritten notes, assumedly by Ruppelt, the topic was a report hurriedly submitted summer of 1952 about needed revisions to the project's methodology and the not too subtle suggestion that, since no proof of threat had been found, the project had achieved its Project Sign, Grudge and Blue Book objective and should be dismantled. Dates within the report indicate the process began prior to the notorious Washington D.C. Capitol sightings and other strange lights in and around the area. Lights eventually laid at the feet of radar angels and temperature inversions officially. Oddly, the decision was made to not close the work of Project Blue Book due to what would be known as the '1952 Flap.

"...only as a last resort do we use the report of an untrained non-technical person's visual observation of a complicated aerial object, especially if the information is volunteered."
 

"ATIC proposes that the receipt and analysis of such reports by the USAF be discontinued in the future..."

"Basically, any moving light is either the result of (1) air expenditure of energy, e.g., an aircraft, a missile, meteor, ionized clouds, etc. or (2) the reflection of light from another source, e.g., the sun, moon, etc. In the past, objects reflecting lights from another source have been identified and eliminated from consideration only by tedious and expensive investigation and analysis by ATIC and other Defense Depart. agencies."

Note that final line of the last quote. The AF could only fulfill its tasked mission through 'tedious and expensive investigation and analysis'.  The proudly vaunted 'two pronged' purpose of the project according to several documents and regulations was to determine if they represented a threat and to discover if there was any technology to be mined from the craft or the phenomena.

A report alleged to be from those early years and found at  http://www.roswellfiles.com/FOIA/AFIntellRpt.htm, contains this phrase :

"5. In addition to the collection, analysis and investigation activities directed by the project personnel at Hq, Air Material Command, Air Intelligence Memorandum dated 6 August 1948, (sic really 27 July, 1948"

This appears to indicate that those were the very activities the project(s) were tasked to undertake.

Thanks, but No Thanks: Interrogation and Intimidation of Early Witnesses

Part of it was the lingering influences of a global war, part of it was an intelligence community fighting to get a toehold in a new post-war environment and part was the paranoia and diligence of a military whose innocence had been rubbed raw by a long war of multiple fronts and a present threat as a super-power was using everything its its arsenal to compete and conquer the west. 

All of it combined in the new mystery of the "flying saucers" and sent things into hyperactive levels - including the process of getting information from those who had witnessed the events.

They had one model: the alleged criminal and the police. So people who saw things were never labeled as "witnesses" but only as "observers" or 'Sources."  Seldom were they "interviewed" or "questioned", especially in the 1947 to 1955 time frame, but they were "interrerogated."

All of these word choices served, intentionally or subconsciously, to cast those who saw something and those who investigated the event on opposing sides of a conflict. The tension was inherent in the FBI influenced preinvestigations of those who reported something to weed out undesirables or pranksters in the early days or when related to super secret government projects. They focused on making sure the reputation of the witness and their character was above reproach. They preceded along the same lines as they did when reviewing backgrounds for government employment or security clearances.

In 1949 the following were used in investigations into reported sightings of unusual things in the skies.  Presented with this form, even if familiar with such phrasing due to work work or military service, they reflect a daunting commitment. Many people today would simply shove the paperwork back across the desk and say,"Thanks but no thanks!"  Those brave individuals who stepped up, signed these forms and made these statements should be applauded for their bravery. It is clear that to do so carried with it a lot more than a simple, 'I saw this object..."  It meant you had to be willing to be "interrogated". to sign specific forms, witnessed often by the very people who were asking the questions and then have your life viewed  under a microscope during a period of Cold War jitters, social/political anxiety, and widespread paranoia.

STATEMENT (1949)
"I,________________________, residing at ____________,___________,______________ have been duly advised of my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America that I need not make any statement; that my silence in this respect will not raise any inference of guilt against me, that I make make a sworn statement or unsworn statement; and that any statement I care to make may be used against me in any proceeding, civil or criminal, which may arise from the facts  hereafter stated, do proceed to state as follows:".....

Witnesses to proceedings also had to sign a statement:
"Date:_________________
We hereby certify that we were present at_______________,___________________,__________, when ______________made the above statement and that he was fully advised of his rights as set forth above, that no promise of immunity or reward was made to him, that no force or durees was used or threatened, and that the above statement was freely and voluntarily made. We further certify that the said ______________________signed the above in our presence.

WITNESSED:
________________________________     __________________________________

________________________________     __________________________________"




Later, as investigative techniques, as well as interrogation tactics change, the polygraph will be used or recommended.  The Air Force will contract psychologists  who will provide them with checklists and indicators to use to identify people that can been ruled out as qualified witnesses, personalities that might be discounted as unreliable due to instability or "over active imaginations", or mental conditions that might be caused by long drives, high stress, nervous anxiety. In many of the reports in Project Blue Book profession, education, age and gender were often used, unofficially, to slant how a report was received or accepted.