Battle of Los Angeles

The Battle of Les Angeles, also known as The Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to the rumored enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late February 24 to early February 25, 1942, over Los Angeles, California. The Great Los Angeles Air Raid is considered as one of the strangest and bizarre chapters in the books of World War 2. The incident is so colorful, that even Hollywood couldn’t hold itself back from making multi-million dollar movies {Battle: Los Angeles (DVD)} about it.

The incident occurred less than three months after the United States entered World War II as a result of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after the bombardment of Ellwood on February 23. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the incident a “false alarm.” Newspapers of the time published a number of reports and speculations of a cover-up.

Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans believed that enemy raids on the continental United States were imminent. On the evening of February 23rd, 1942, military spotters saw strange, blinking lights over a Los Angeles defense plant. The anti-aircraft crews went on high alert, but a few hours later, the lights were gone, and the crews stood down. But United States Defence Crews near the area were kept on a high alert. The following night, spotters once again saw something strange over the Los Angeles sky. This time, it was supposedly a large, glowing object. While the previous spotting ended peacefully, this time it was completely different.

Battle of Los Angeles

Local military units sounded warning sirens, ordered a mass blackout and the sky was lit up with machine-gun fire and over 1,400 anti-aircraft shells were fired. The city of Los Angeles found itself in the grip of mass panic. Strangely, however, the anti-aircraft shells hit nothing. Despite the intense barrage, no aircraft wreckage was ever recovered. Ground observers continued to report strange lights in the sky as the guns fired around them. With no conclusive evidence and without accomplishing anything, the crews once again stood down.

Over the next few days, government and media outlets issued contradictory reports on what was later known as the “Battle of Los Angeles.” But suddenly the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox stated that the incident was just a false alarm. No airplanes were in the sky. But people on the ground came forward, stating that they had definitely seen something in the night sky. A photo surfaced showing a bright disk illuminated by searchlights. Official reports stated that there was nothing and the crews were shooting at the explosions of anti-aircraft shells bursting in the sky. After the war, Japan stated that they had never launched an air attack on Los Angeles. However, UFO researchers cited several eyewitness reports of seeing unidentified crafts in the sky. Additionally, we have to keep in mind that this was years before the UFO craze started in the United States. This situation got more attention after the war when some strange reports from the War Department were released.

According to the War Department, there were between 1 and 5 unidentified air-planes over Los Angeles that night which directly contradicted the Japanese and Navy reports. All these facts gave UFO enthusiasts reason to believe that the Battle of Los Angeles was the biggest battle between humans and aliens that our world has ever seen.

So these were the top 3 most talked-about UFO sightings in history and among these 3 which one you thought to be the most credible one. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

A photo published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942, has been cited by some ufologists and conspiracy theorists as part of the evidence of extraterrestrial visitation. They assert that the photo clearly shows searchlights focused on an alien spaceship; however, the photo was heavily modified by photo retouching prior to publication, a routine practice in graphic arts of the time intended to improve contrast in black and white photos. Los Angeles Times writer Larry Harnisch noted that the retouched photo along with faked newspaper headlines was presented as true historical material in trailers for the film Battle: Los Angeles. Harnisch commented, “if the publicity campaign wanted to establish UFO research as nothing but lies and fakery, it couldn’t have done a better job.”

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