In February 1942, anti-aircraft artillery lit up the night sky over Los Angeles, firing at unidentified flying objects. Despite the intense barrage, no aircraft were recovered, and no conclusive explanation was provided. Was it an enemy attack, a case of war nerves, or something out of this world?
Episode Source Material
BOOKS
BROADCAST NEWS & TELEVISION
- History’s Greatest Mysteries: The Battle of Los Angeles (season 5 episode 7) via YouTube.
- CBS News: The real Battle of Los Angeles 1942 CBS news report (attacking UFO) via YouTube.
WEB/SOCIAL MEDIA/MESSAGE BOARDS
- The Battle of Los Angeles. (website).
- World War II’s bizarre “Battle of Los Angeles.” (online article).
- UFOs or no, “Battle of Los Angeles” nears 75th anniversary. (online article).
- What kicked off the Battle of LA in 1942? | UFOs: the lost evidence. (YouTube video).
- The history of the 4th AA command, Western Defense Command, Jan 9 1942 to July 1 1945. (PDF document).
- Pearl Harbor. (website).
- Former Long Beach naval complex. (website).
- Evaluating information: War of the Worlds. (website).
- World War II aircraft ranked-by-speed, fastest-to-slowest. (website).
- Report on the UFO wave of 1947. (PDF document).
- Why have there been so many UFO sightings near nuclear facilities? (online article).
- They are watching us: aliens have been monitoring American nukes for decades, claims military insider. (online slideshow).
- Double check: what connects Operation Highjump, nazi flying saucers, and the hollow earth theory? (online article).
- Trinity: world’s first nuclear test. (website).
- Los Angeles, California to Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544. (Google maps directions).
- Manhattan Project timeline. (website).
- Western Defense Command. (online encyclopedia entry).
- Memorandum to the president. (online PDF).
- Apollo astronaut says aliens prevented a nuclear war on Earth. (online article).
- Did UFOs deactivate US missles, collect vital information on nuclear arsenals and ICBMs? What did Pentagon mandarins say? (online article).
- Aliens warn us about nuclear weapons, ex US army official claims. (online article).
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. (website).
- When L.A. drove in the dark: SoCal during World War II. (online article).
- Battle of Los Angeles. (Wikipedia article).
- The history of stealth technology. (online article).
- Speed calculator. (online calculator).