Photo By Lori Stewart | A 33-foot-diameter balloon used in Japan’s Operation FUGO... read more read more
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by Lori S. Stewart, USAICoE Command Historian
MIS AVERTS PANIC IN JAPANESE BALLOON ATTACK
In December 1944, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) personnel stepped in when the Imperial Japanese Army attempted a balloon bomb attack on the western United States. Through a voluntary censorship program, the MIS prevented a security breach that might have alerted the Japanese to the results of this experiment.
After American air raids on Tokyo and other Japanese cities in April 1942, the Japanese Army planned a retaliatory attack on the western United States. Following two years of research and development, they launched Operation FUGO, (“wind ship weapon”) in November 1944. They planned to use the high-altitude west-to-east winds—the “jet stream”—to float more than nine thousand hydrogen balloons 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to the American mainland. The balloons carried high-explosive and incendiary bombs and had intricate mechanisms to keep them at the critical altitude during their three-day trip. The purpose of the attack was three-fold: it would bolster the morale of Japanese citizens while inciting panic in American citizens and, by starting fires in the heavily forested Pacific Northwest, divert critical resources away from the war.
The U.S. Navy found the first balloon off the coast of California on Nov. 4. A second balloon was discovered in early December. Initially, speculation in intelligence circles as to the purpose of the devices ranged from air delivery of either biological weapons or enemy agents. The War Department’s MIS directed its Scientific Branch to investigate. Beginning in early December 1944, Maj. Ray V. Jones and 2d Lt. Charles H. Allison were devoted entirely to reporting on the situation. Another five officers and two clerks eventually joined them.
After consulting with other government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the MIS determined the most important response was to deny the enemy information about the success or failure of their effort. This would minimize any positive propaganda value it might merit in Japan and, at the same time, dampen the negative psychological effect it might have in the United States. After a Dec. 18 Associated Press article revealed that FBI and military personnel were investigating a balloon in Montana, the MIS sent a message to all public press requesting they refrain from mentioning the balloon incidents. Aside from a few articles published in small local newspapers, the voluntary censorship policy was quite successful.
The MIS also provided samples from the balloons’ sandbags to the Military Geological Unit of the U.S. Geological Survey. Their microscopic and chemical analyses helped determine the balloons originated near Ichinomiya on the island of Honshu. After aerial reconnaissance identified two hydrogen production plants there, American B-29 bombers destroyed the targets in April 1945.
Overall, Operation FUGO failed. Only about three hundred balloons made it to land, and wet winter conditions prevented the anticipated large-scale forest fires. By keeping the information out of the news, MIS helped avert panic in the United States. Unfortunately, in May 1945, six individuals out for a picnic near Bly, Oregon, died when a balloon they discovered exploded. This incident led the War Department to lift the censorship and issue a public warning about the possible danger and “to reassure the nation that the attacks are so scattered and aimless that they constitute no military threat.” However, believing the experiment had failed and having lost two hydrogen plants, the Japanese had already halted the operation.
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| Date Taken: | 12.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2024 14:27 |
| Story ID: | 487464 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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