Guest Papav66 Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 During WW2 the Japs planned to attack the West Coast of America using bombs flown over the Pacific by balloon. This ingenious idea was the result of years of research into higher level winds and balloon construction. The finished weapon of war was a paper balloon carrying a device that could jettison ballast, drop a bomb & even blow itself up if things went awry on the 60 hr journey. They have now produced a programme on this called On a Wing and a Prayer, telling the story of this forgotten onslaught which was covered up the Americans to the extent that five children were blown up in a forest in Oregon because they had no idea there were bombs in the area. They showed a film on the history channel last month but if you missed it there's a good website here with trailer: http://www.onawindandaprayer.com Fortunately damage was slight, but they reckon that there are still somewhere in the region of 600 balloons to be found! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEnfield Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Cheers for that link,...........I'd read something about it a while ago, an amazing and inginious idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 There were also convetional air attacks planned and executed from submarine launched aircraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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