Battle Over LA: The First Major, Never Debunked, UFO Case On Record...(This article is actually from

Photo: Negative of the Image that appeared in the LA Times in 1942 showing the UFO in the center of the military searchlights.

First, to set the record straight there was no 'battle', however, a U.S. Artillery battery was ordered to launch a barrage at a suspected enemy target hovering over Los Angelos. There was no battle because the supposed enemy aircraft (UFO) never returned fire nor did it drop any bombs. What follows is a brief summary of the bare bones, established facts collected from military reports.

During the night of 24/25 February 1942, unidentified objects caused a succession of alerts in southern California. This was just three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On the 24th, a warning issued by naval intelligence indicated that an attack could be expected within the next ten hours. That evening a large number of flares and blinking lights were reported from the vicinity of defense plants.

An alert called at 7:18 p.m., Pacific Time, was lifted at 10:23 p.m., and the mounting tension temporarily relaxed. But early in the morning of the 25th renewed activity began. Radar scopes picked up an unidentified target 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Antiaircraft batteries were alerted at 2:15 am and put on Green Alert—ready to fire—a few minutes later.

The Air Force kept its pursuit planes on the ground, choosing to wait for indications of the scale and direction of any attack, before committing its limited fighter force. Radar scopes tracked the approaching target to within a few miles of the coast, then at 2:21 a.m.; the regional controller ordered a blackout.

Now, what follows at this point is a description of the events that happened above (and on the ground) over and in greater Los Angelos:

Shortly after the blackout was ordered, air raid sirens shattered the peace and quiet of Culver City and Santa Monica; citizens of those towns scrambled to see what was going on; naturally assuming that the Japanese were mounting a second assault on U.S. soil.

Volunteer Air Raid Wardens grabbed their gear and headed into the streets, going house to house, affecting a total blackout. The 37th Coast Artillery Brigade swung into action and the sky was soon lit up by a swarm of searchlights. The beams converged on an object seemingly suspended in the sky.

Shock, surprise and confusion swept through the observers who were expecting to see enemy warplanes; instead they saw a massive object (UFO) that did not resemble any known type of aircraft.

The artillerymen were ordered to shell the object and round after round of anti-aircraft gunfire exploded repeatedly, sending volley after volley aimed straight at the strange airship. Eyewitnesses later reported seeing the object take numerous direct hits but they appeared to have no effect. This was an extremely serious event. The UFO never mounted any kind of counterattack.

However, the 30-minute barrage sent shell fragments and casings raining down on homes, businesses and even citizens who were watching it. Eyewitnesses later told reporters that the object was a "surreal, hanging, magic lantern."

Now, what follows is the article in italics (and the author's analysis of it) which appeared on the front page of the LA Times, Feb., 26, 1942.

"Overshadowing a nation-wide maelstrom of rumors and conflicting reports, the Army's Western Defense Command insisted that Los Angeles' early morning blackout and anti-aircraft action were the result of unidentified aircraft sighted over the beach area."

This is what the Times journalist got straight from the Defense Command immediately following the "battle." It makes it very clear that the army had no idea what the object that the Artillery battery was ordered to hit, with barrage after barrage, really was. There are (Skeptics) who contend that the (UFO) was nothing but a balloon. (The usual suspect) However, that is entirely at odds with the official Army position.

Could a balloon withstand and stay in position while absorbing 1400 rounds of artillery fire?

"The command in San Francisco confirmed and reconfirmed the presence over the Southland of unidentified planes; relayed by the Southern California sector office in Pasadena, the second statement read: 'The aircraft which caused the blackout in the Los Angeles area for several hours this a.m. have not been identified.'"

This was during the early stage of a war so every effort to thoroughly identify the object was made and with great haste; if it had been a balloon or any type of known (enemy) plane that fact would have been established right away.

The following article appeared in another local newspaper:

Glendale News Press Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1942:

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS BLAST AT L.A. MYSTERY INVADER

Raid Scare Blacks out Southland, but Knox Claims 'False Alarm'

Washington (AP) - Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox said today that there were no planes over Los Angeles last night. "That's our understanding," he said. He added that “none have been found and a very wide reconnaissance has been carried on." He added, "It was just a false alarm."

Anti-aircraft guns thundered over the metropolitan area early today for the first time in the war, but hours later what they were shooting at remained a military secret. An unidentified object moving slowly down the coast from Santa Monica was variously reported as a balloon and an airplane.

"Cities in the Los Angeles area were blacked out at 2:25 a.m. today on orders from the fourth interceptor command when unidentified aircraft were reported in the area," the western defense command said. "

Although reports are conflicting and every effort is being made to ascertain the facts, it is clear that no bombs were dropped and no planes were shot down.

There was a considerable amount of anti-aircraft firing. The all-clear signal came at 7:25 a.m.

Wailing air raid sirens at 2:25 a.m. awakened most of the metropolitan's three million citizens. A few minutes later they were treated to a gigantic Fourth-of-July-like display as huge searchlights flashed along a 10-mile front to the south, converging on a single spot high in the sky.

Anti-Aircraft Guns Open Fire. Moments later the anti-aircraft guns opened up, throwing a sheet of steel skyward. Tracer bullets and exploding shells lit the heavens.

All of the areas newspaper accounts agreed on the basic facts. A blackout was called and Air raid sirens woke up millions of LA residents at 2:30 a.m. They observed the Artillery battery launch barrage after barrage at the hovering, stationary object for half an hour.

Residents in a forty-mile arc along the coast watched from hills or rooftops as the play of guns and searchlights provided the first real drama of the war for citizens of the mainland.

The dawn, which ended the shooting and the ‘battle’ fantasy, also proved that the only damage which resulted to the city was such as had been caused by the excitement (there was at least one death from heart failure), by traffic accidents in the blacked-out streets, or by shell fragments from the artillery barrage.

Attempts to arrive at an explanation of the incident quickly became as involved and mysterious as the "battle" itself. The Navy immediately insisted that there was no evidence of the presence of enemy planes, and [Secretary of the Navy] Frank Knox announced at a press conference on 25 February that the raid was just a false alarm.

At the same conference he admitted that attacks were always possible and indicated that vital industries located along the coast ought to be moved inland. Clearly, this event baffled everbody, tens of thousands witnessed it and a very good photo was taken by a pro photojournalist. It happened, it was real and the case remains unsolved.