Japanese Balloon Bombs
July 7th, 2008
Thanks to reader Scott Miki, who visited Fort Rodd Hill & Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada, and has sent in photos of the fusen bakudan on diplay there. These are Japanese balloon bombs, used during the Second World War to attack the US mainland. You can read my earlier article about them here. Despite being a resounding failure, the balloon bombs were nevertheless an extraordinary feat of ingenuity, carefully adjusting their altitude by detonating small charges to shed ballast when flying too low, and venting gas when too high. Some fusen bakudan made it as far east as Michigan, although of 6,000 launched in the winter of 1944 only 310 were ever found in the US. The only casualties occurred when a group of six Oregonians on a picnic trip discovered a landed balloon, their disturbance unfortunately set off the bomb.
Scott says:
Fort Rodd Hill is still one of the best deals going – the park is very large, and one can get an annual pass to visit any time for under $10 CDN (about 5 GBP). It would take someone about 4 hours to see everything.
Sweet! Images are thumblinked so you can appreciate the giant sized detail.
Ace!
Entry Filed under: General
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3 Comments
1. Centurion | July 12th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
The balloon bombs that had incendiary devices were not sent to cause damage, but to check wind currents to determine the best launching points from submarines to hit US cities. The actual intended weapons were WMDs! They were to be fitted with large glass orbs filled with biologicals such as anthrax, pneumonic plague and other fatal epidemic type diseases. The head of the project was Japanese General Shiroo Ishii. He commanded “Unit 731″ which was a biological weapons test and development unit stationed in Pingfan and Mukden Manchuria. They experiemented on live prisoners including American POWs that had been captured in the Philippines. Two such bio balloons actually made it here, one coming down on a ranch in Montana and one found in the Arizona desert. neither had any bio escape and were contained on site. Both were taken to Fort Detrick, Maryland for study, and subsequently via a captured Japanese officer in Burma who had worked for Ishii, we found about Ishii and his experiments (including several live human vivasections!). Two books go into depth on Ishii and Unit 731, one “Unit 731″ and the other “The Medusa File” by Craig Roberts.
2. LaCreption | July 12th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
@Centurion, thank you for the info. Didn’t know that.
3. Bob Rasmussen | July 26th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Hey!! Ive been studing these fugus since 1992. im a ww2 researcher. you have it backwards. the balloons were to cause huge fires in the u.s, tying up thousands of troops and materials. and if that worked the bio bombs were to bo sent. these balloons were to carry 500 glass tubes with bio material in them. the japanese wanted to spread them all over the u.s.
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