The Battle of Los Angeles: The History of the Notorious False Alarm that Caused an Artillery Barrage over California during World War II

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents “Probably much of the confusion came from the fact that anti-aircraft shell bursts, caught by the searchlights, were themselves mistaken for enemy planes. In any case, the next three hours produced some of the most imaginative reporting of the war: "swarms" of planes (or, sometimes, balloons) of all possible sizes, numbering from one to several hundred, traveling at altitudes which ranged from a few thousand feet to more than 20,000 and flying at speeds which were said to have varied from "very slow" to over 200 miles per hour, were observed to parade across the skies. These mysterious forces dropped no bombs and, despite the fact that 1,440 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition were directed against them, suffered no losses.” – An excerpt from the U.S. Office of Air Force History