On December 7, 1941, American forces at Pearl Harbor had been attacked by 350 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers. The raid, launched from a distance of 230 miles, killed over two thousand people. Decried as a “Sneak Attack”, the incident brought the United States into the on-going Second World War.
On December 7, 1941, American forces at Pearl Harbor had been attacked by 350 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers. The raid, launched from a distance of 230 miles, killed over two thousand people. Decried as a “Sneak Attack”, the incident brought the United States into the on-going Second World War.
During the war, Japanese scientists developed the first weapon system with intercontinental range: the [[Fu-Go balloon bomb]]. Many succesfully reached the United States during the war and on March 10, 1945, a balloon bomb cut off power to the Manhattan Project’s plutonium production facility at Hanford. Wartime censorship prevented the Japanese from learning of the weapon’s success. Meanwhile, German scientists developed self-guided weapons like the [[V-1 flying bomb]] and [[V-2 rocket]], [[Messerschmitt Me 262|jet fighters]], and even plans for an intercontinental aircraft called the [[Amerikabomber]].
During the war, Japanese scientists developed the first weapon system with intercontinental range: the [[Fu-Go balloon bomb]]. Many reached the United States cut off power to the Manhattan Project’s plutonium production facility at Hanford censorship prevented the Japanese from learning . Meanwhile, German scientists developed self-guided weapons like the [[V-1 flying bomb]] and [[V-2 rocket]], [[Messerschmitt Me 262|jet fighters]], and plans for an intercontinental aircraft called the [[Amerikabomber]].
The war ended in August 1945, after the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] — each carried out by a single American B-29 bomber launched from 1,500 miles away. The two bombs collectively killed up to 250,000 people. In the wake of the war, Americans and Soviets both began secret programs to replicate and improve upon German wartime technical developments.
The war ended in August 1945, after the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] — each carried out by a single American B-29 bomber launched from 1,500 miles away. The two bombs collectively killed up to 250,000 people. In the wake of the war, Americans and Soviets both began secret programs to replicate and improve upon German wartime technical developments.
Since antiquity, sources reported things in the sky they could not identify, but with the start the Cold War in the Summer 1947, such reports of unidentified craft were covered in American media as potentially relevant to national security.
On December 7, 1941, American forces at Pearl Harbor had been attacked by 350 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers. The raid, launched from a distance of 230 miles, killed over two thousand people. Decried as a “Sneak Attack”, the incident brought the United States into the on-going Second World War.
During the war, Japanese scientists developed the first weapon system with intercontinental range: the Fu-Go balloon bomb. Many successfully reached the continental United States andone cut off power to the Manhattan Project’s plutonium production facility at Hanford, though wartime censorship prevented the Japanese from learning bombs had successfully reached the continent. Meanwhile, German scientists similarly developed self-guided weapons like the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, jet fighters, and plans for an intercontinental aircraft called the Amerikabomber.
The war ended in August 1945, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — each carried out by a single American B-29 bomber launched from 1,500 miles away. The two bombs collectively killed up to 250,000 people. In the wake of the war, Americans and Soviets both began secret programs to replicate and improve upon German wartime technical developments.
- Cold War. Research into rocketry and intercontinental bombers combined with uncertainty about Soviet technical advances meant the possibility of Soviet overflight of the the Continental United States a theoretically-realistic possibility. Soviet forces in Europe outnumbered Western forces, making the atomic arsenal essential and, potentially, a prime target for Soviet attack. Atomic installations were equipped with the first radars along with spotters.
During the 1947 craze, flying discs and atomic weaponry became linked in the public consciousness.[1] On July 6, headlines proclaimed “Discs Atom Products, A-Bomb Scientist Says”.[2] Articles cited an unnamed “noted scientist in nuclear physics” affiliated with CalTech who had been part of the Manhattan Project. The scientist declared “People are not ‘seeing things'” and ‘said flatly that experiments in “transmutation of atomic energy” being conducted at Muroc Lake Calif; White Sands, N.M.; Portland Ore., and elsewhere are responsible for the “flying discs”.[2] Papers observed that the “Bulk of the flying disc reports have generated in a wide circle through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon surrounding the Hanford works”.[3] Col. F. J. Clarke, commander of Hanford, denied knowledge of any connection.[3] Harold Urey, atomic scientist in Chicago, dismissed the report as “gibberish”, as did Atomic Energy Commission chair David E. Lilienthal.[3]
In 1956, Bluebook chief Ed Ruppelt wrote in his book that “UFOs were seen more frequently around areas vital to the defense of the United States. The Los Alamos-Albuquerque area, Oak Ridge, and White Sands Proving Ground rated high.” Ruppelt also detailed UFO reports at Hanford.
On March 24, 1967, Hynek suggested a link between the two.[4]