By Micah Hanks via Mysterious Universe
Few wartime incidents have been so compelling, and controversial, in the eyes of modern ufologists as that famous “battle” which took place in the skies above Los Angeles in the early morning of February 25, 1942. While conventional history maintains that the entire ordeal had been the result of “war nerves,” UFO researchers have scoffed at the assertion that an object allegedly seen in the skies above Los Angeles that evening had simply been meteorological balloons (see Wesley Craven and James Cate’s 1983 The Army Air Forces in World War II: Defense of the Western Hemisphere for more on the official analysis of the incident).
The story is well known by now: a strange object appears on radar, moving in slowly toward land from off the Pacific, and soon there are reports buzzing about sightings of Japanese planes over California. Artillery fire ensues, lasting until around 4:14 AM, causing damage to buildings, and even a handful of deaths throughout the panic-stricken city, with reports of disabled Japanese fighter planes crashing to the ground.
The story has remained sensational, largely due to the interest and assertions of UFO researchers; in the past, I too have questioned, on occasion, how a misidentified aircraft of any kind might sustain an onslaught lasting nearly an hour and a half, courtesy of 12.8 pound anti-aircraft shells.
Hoax?
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For all we know, maybe the root of the mystery really does have to do with an exotic aircraft… and to be fair, maybe weather balloons are still just as worthy of consideration. But over the years, there has been enough misinfo presented by both sides–favoring skepticism as well as belief–to almost forever color the waters around this strange and scary incident. So what happened on that February night over Los Angeles, and was California really visited by an unknown aircraft capable of sustaining long-term firing well into the morning hours?
Over the years, there have been a number of bad reports–some of them outright hoaxes–that have been passed along as “evidence” of something strange in the skies over Los Angeles in 1942. Back in 2010, I had taken particular interest in reports appearing at various sites online that alleged the object seen over LA that evening had resembled a giant butterfly. The specific source being cited for these claims had been The Reno Evening Gazette February 26, 1942 edition, thus resulting in a few Fortean scholars who began to draw parallels between the LA air raid of ’42 and later “Mothman” reports emanating from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during the late 1960s. Like many others, I was intrigued by this, and so I decided to see if I could hunt down an old microfilm copy of this edition of the Gazette; sure enough, I located the paper thanks to a little help from an amateur historian friend of mine, with the famous headline emblazoned across the frontpage that read, “Los Angeles Confused Over Air Raid Alarm.” My search for a large Fortean fluttering beast had begun, but the biggest surprise came at the end, when it became clear that . . .
Related articles
- Rethinking the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 (mysteriousuniverse.org)
- THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES FEB 24TH 1942: Was it an Attempted Japanese Attack or UFO? (lunaticoutpost.com)
Some people will tell you it’s totally untrue. It’s not. Others will say it’s unfounded. Dead wrong. And probably more than a few will claim it’s nothing but paranoia run rampant. Wrong again. What is it? Well, I’ll tell you: it’s the claim that Intelligence agencies not only monitor UFO activity, but carefully take note of what is being said on the subject at conferences around the world, too; even to the extent of sitting in the audiences and carefully making notes or recording every word that comes out of the mouths of the speakers. Think I’m wrong? Read on. You’ll see several examples of around no less than 30 cases that I have been able to document via the 
Officer Valdez said he is convinced that the mutilations of the animals have not been the work of predators because of the precise manner of the cuts. Officer Valdez said he had investigated mutilations of several animals which had occurred on the ranch of Manuel Gomez of Dulce, New Mexico.
Numerous other persons made similar type presentations expounding on their theories regarding the possibility that the mutilations are the responsibility of extraterrestrial visitors, members of Satanic cults, or some unknown government agency.
He said: “For several months my office has been receiving reports of cattle mutilations throughout Colorado and other western states. At least 130 cases in Colorado alone have been reported to local officials and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI); the CBI has verified that the incidents have occurred for the last two years in nine states. The ranchers and rural residents of Colorado are concerned and frightened by these incidents. The bizarre mutilations are frightening in themselves: in virtually all the cases, the left ear, rectum and sex organ of each animal has been cut away and the blood drained from the carcass, but with no traces of blood left on the ground and no footprints.”
A white Ford pickup pulled up to cattle pasture near Ponca City, Oklahoma, in early Fall 1971, and stopped at a gate. Karl, Mark, and Gordon worked for cattle feed distributor and were sent to this remote area to pick up a feeder. What they found there has kept them silent for 41 years.
The trio drove back to the cattle feed company and the boss said he’d drain the tank and they could pick it up tomorrow.
Back in 1955, the late 
If Allende was telling the truth, then the Navy had not only begun to grasp the nature of invisibility, but it had also stumbled upon the secret of teleportation of the type demonstrated – decades later, in fictional, on-screen format – in Star Trek and The Fly. On these very matters, Allende made the disturbing claim that not only did the experiment render many of the crew-members as mad as hatters, but some, he said, even vanished – literally – from the ship while the test was at its height, never to be seen again. Others reportedly suffered horrific and agonizing deaths.
In a September 1975 document, 
Within the annals of 
Schmitt duly complied, and on July 10, 1978 wrote to Chief Martin E. Vigil, of the 
Between December 26 and 29, 1980, multiple UFO encounters occurred within 
In a world filled with terrorism, Middle Eastern wars and skirmishes, disturbing changes in weather patterns, apocalyptic tales of the Mayans and 2012, and Hollywood’s ongoing obsession with “end of the world”-type movies – check out Contagion; Children of Men; Knowing; Dawn of the Dead; The Happening; and 28 Days Later as just a few examples from the last 10 years – it’s hardly surprising that people might be tempted to look to the stars for salvation.
While in recent weeks stories of “mystery noises” filling the air have captured the attention of many, sometimes the less easily discernible sounds around us could hold the key to unraveling strange secrets of time and space. This is particularly the case with 
“The patch elongated and became brighter and to our amazement a complete ring, similar to pictures of 
Have you ever seen someone you thought you knew, maybe from a short distance, and you thought for certain that you were seeing a friend? The hair, the height, the way they walked, and even the clothes they wore… all these things seemed to match the person you thought you were seeing… until that is, you get close enough to realize that it was actually somebody else who merely looked like the friend or acquaintance y0u thought you’d seen.
Of the many and varied, multifaceted theories that have been advanced to try and explain what lies at the heart of the UFO puzzle, one of the most controversial suggests that rather than representing bug-eyed intruders from far-away 
For most people, any mention of 
It has been an art employed by some of the greatest minds and practitioners of the sciences over the centuries, as well as many of the more nefarious names in history as well. From scholars like 
What is it about the artistic mind that seems to allow the more remote and esoteric aspects of existence to shimmer through the cracks in our reality? Far more often than not, it seems that individuals who are gifted in the arts claim to be more spiritual and—to put it bluntly—psychically attuned.
“Don’t move.” The sound of the woman’s voice was plain and audible, whispered quietly from directly behind him. Nick had just gotten out of bed, and standing beside the door leading into the hallway, he did the first thing that came to mind: he answered her.
by 
Beyond any shadow of doubt, the most famous of all the many mysteries of 
For those who believe in the existence of literal werewolves, 
A look back at many of the early books, periodicals and fanzines on the Flying Saucers of yesteryear will show they were filled with encounters between astonished humans and aliens “taking soil samples.” “Radar-visual” encounters were all over the place. People were always in the right place – or, depending on your perspective, the wrong place! – to see the surprised and rumbled ETs hastily scoop up their little tools and race back to the safety of their craft. And they would always be sure to take to the skies in view of the witness.
Where did we come from? How did the universe come into being? Are we alone in the universe? Is there alien life out there, and what is the future of the human race? These are the sorts of questions that great minds of science have been asking ever since our concept of a universe was first realized, and all were questions put forth by acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking, during a lecture he gave in 2008.
