1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Ye. 2 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians. Quick peek behind the curtain. 3 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: It is Friday as we record this, and all three 4 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: of us are really looking forward to the weekends. Hi, 5 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: I'm Ben, Hi, I'm no, and double peak behind the curtain. 6 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: This is take two of starting this episode. The first 7 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: time around, I said that my name was Ben Uh 8 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: and you had said that we were very excited to 9 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: be here. I was gonna say, I'm very exhausted but 10 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: still excited to be here, but then I called myself you. 11 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's some kind of like Freudian 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: thing or what, but I am happy to be here 13 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: and happy to see you. I'm happy. I'm happy to 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: be here, and I'm happy to see you as well. Know. 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: The same goes for our super producer, Casey Pegram. Quick 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: question for you, Casey? Have you ever been in a 17 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: hot air balloon? What about you know? No? It seems 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: utterly terrifying to me. I am I. I have also never, 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: as far as I know, been in a hot air balloon. 20 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: So if I ever was, I must have been a 21 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: wee wee tyke. But they are one of my favorite 22 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: of ridiculous human inventions. Can you just imagine the cartoonish 23 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: audacity of it. Someone said, well, we'll just you know, 24 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: get up there and see how it goes from there. 25 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: Hot air balloons, aside from being you know, visually stunning 26 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: and inspiring, are also a passion of many many people. 27 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: In fact, we before we went on the air today, 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: we're looking into this and I found no less than 29 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: three hot air balloon festivals going on here in our 30 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: fair state of Georgia. So this is my pitch, Noel Casey, 31 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: do you guys want to go in a hot air 32 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 1: balloon with me? We could become ridiculous history the podcast 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: of the air there when you go. And some people, 34 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: perhaps Cheryl Crow included, would say that we have enough 35 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: hot air already. H She is just the worst, man. 36 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: She's really dogging us. Man, Why dude, what do we 37 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: ever do to? Cheryl just complimented the bongos, You know 38 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: what I always do. I really do think that's a 39 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: very important moment in American music. Agreed. Agreed, my friend, 40 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: we want to hear about the hot air balloon experiences 41 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: in your life. Where the festivals in your neck of 42 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: the global woods and we'll we'll keep you guys updated 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: over the summer if any of us are all of 44 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: us make it to one of those. But today's story 45 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: is not about the fun high altitude hi jinks of 46 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: touring the air in a hot air balloon. No, it 47 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: is about balloons as weapons. Yeah. I mean, when we 48 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: think of aerial attacks against the United States, the first thing, 49 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: obviously that comes to mind, and for many the only 50 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: thing that comes to mind are the tragic events of 51 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: Pearl Harbor on December seventh of nineteen forty one, when 52 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: Japanese forces mounted a bombing raid on Pearl Harbor, kicking 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: off the events of World War Two on September nine 54 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: of ninety two. But it turns out, then that is 55 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: not the only air attack on American soil. You're absolutely right. 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: It turns out that one of the most unusual attacks 57 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: on American soil occurred during World War Two, and it 58 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: was a balloon attack, or it would be more accurate 59 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: to say a balloon bombing. You see, the Japanese army 60 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: employed balloon bombs, or as they were called, food goes 61 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: f u g o s starting in nineteen forty four. 62 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: The Japanese military constructed and launched over nine thousand high 63 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: altitude balloons, and these each were loaded with fifty pounds 64 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: of explosives. That's right, Ben, So, the Japanese Military Scientific 65 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: Laboratory actually came up with the idea of what they 66 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: referred to as fussin baku din or balloon bombs, back 67 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,679 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty three. And the food go that you mentioned, 68 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: ben Or, these balloon bombs were just one of several 69 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: ideas that were proposed by this research unit. And there's 70 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: a fantastic scholarly report in the Smithsonian Annals of Flight 71 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: by Robert C. Mikus that's kind of the definitive work 72 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: on this, and it's pretty crazy. Some of the the 73 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: ideas they didn't go with are even more ridiculous. Um. 74 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: There's one called a death ray, and the idea there 75 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,679 Speaker 1: was it was going to be balloon driven. It would 76 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: shoot like electric rais or like you know, electric bolts 77 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: at people on the ground. It would like cover low uh. 78 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: And then there were several other versions of what became 79 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: the fo goos. Lieutenant General Raikichi Tada of the Japanese 80 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: Military Scientific Laboratory is the one who was assigned to 81 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: this program, and he developed several pretty out their ideas 82 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: that were already in the worst. One of them was 83 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: the i Go weapon, which was a wire controlled tank 84 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: that could attack enemy positions. And then there was the 85 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: Rogo weapon, which was a rocket propelled weapon. And then 86 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: you had, when I mentioned earlier, the death ray that 87 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 1: would kill enemies up close with this electric charge. But 88 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: the one that that seemed like it was going to 89 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: be a winner out of these, the one they wanted 90 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: to take all the way was the FuGO weapon, which 91 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: was an altitude controlled balloon. In terms of controlled, I 92 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: mean there was a bar metric valve that would act 93 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: according to the elevation, according to how the altitude of 94 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: the of the balloon, and it would drop sandbags if 95 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: it went too high, and then it would uh you know, 96 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: change the amount of air that was in the balloon 97 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: when it went too low. Um. And the idea was 98 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: it had a fuse that would ignite once the um 99 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: wind currents carried the balloon close to the American coast, 100 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,720 Speaker 1: and the idea was to wreak havoc and chaos on 101 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: America's uh Pacific Northwest region, specifically by causing forest fires. 102 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 1: These incendiary devices would deploy when the fuse would would 103 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: burn up, and it was meant to not necessarily cause 104 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: any kind of real infrastructure damage, just kind of cause 105 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: chaos and mass confusion. Yeah, and you know, we can 106 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: totally understand how this pitch sounds crazy at first, blush, 107 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: but a little bit of historical context will help us 108 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: realize that this is this kind of a brilliant idea. 109 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: This is not the first time balloons were weaponized. During 110 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: the Italian War of Independence from eighteen to eighteen forty nine, 111 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: Austrian Lieutenant uktus undertook the technical development of balloons that 112 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: could be used as bombs. So there was historical precedent, 113 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: and the thing was, no one had quite pulled it 114 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: off as successfully as the Japanese military would hope. Let's 115 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: let's talk just a little bit about these balloons. As 116 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: described by J. David Rogers of the Missouri University of 117 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: Science and Technology, these balloon bombs were thirty three ft 118 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: in diameter and they could lift about a thousand pounds. 119 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: But the deadly portion of the cargo again was this 120 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: thirty three pounds anti personnel frag bomb, fragmentation bomb, and 121 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: it was attached to that fuse you mentioned NOLA sixty 122 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: four ft long fuse that was intended to burn for 123 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: exactly eighty two minutes before detonating. And despite the fact 124 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: that these are weapons of war, you have to appreciate 125 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: the aesthetic. These balloons were made of rubber eyed silk 126 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: or paper, and they were handmade. These were glued together. Now, 127 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: one of the things that we, not being hot air 128 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: balloon experts, have always wondered alone and together here on 129 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: the show is how exactly you steer a hot air balloon, 130 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: Because on the offset it seems tough. You would want 131 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: like a fan up there, maybe to provide some sort 132 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: of propulsion or to function, you know, more or less 133 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: as a rudder. For the Japanese military, the goal here 134 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: was kind of a spaghetti at the wall approach. They 135 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: decided that quantity was a quality all its own, and 136 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: so they released an estimated nine thousand of these balloons. 137 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: So far as we know, at least three hundred and 138 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: forty two reached the US and some even got as 139 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:58,079 Speaker 1: far as Nebraska. But what was their attrition rate? Did 140 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: they were they actually causing harm? No? No, because they 141 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: couldn't be speared and the technology or the the idea 142 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: behind them, as they would travel on these winter jet 143 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 1: streams for an average of sixty hours to reach America. 144 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: UM And like you said, they greenlit through this project 145 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: after realizing that there was a potential for success. About 146 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: ten thousand, between nine and ten thousands these balloons, and 147 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: they were handmade ben by school children, by young school 148 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: girls from a neighboring school UM to the site of 149 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: this uh, this project, and it took thirty men about 150 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,559 Speaker 1: thirty minutes to an hour to prepare each of these 151 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: balloons for flight. And let's remember these were unmanned balloons. UH. 152 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: These were meant to be autonomous and to behave in 153 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: certain ways depending on the altitude and just hope that 154 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: they would get to their target. UM. And the fact 155 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: of the matter is they were launched on the birthday 156 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: of the former Emperor Meiji UM and that is when 157 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: the first series of launches took place. And despite the 158 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: project being top secret, they were not very inconspicuous. They 159 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,559 Speaker 1: were spotted. They were described as looking like the clusters 160 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: of jellyfish in the sky. Absolutely because if you look 161 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 1: at the picture, you've got this thirty three ft diameter 162 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: balloon right, and then you've got this fuse going down 163 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 1: and the stuff that it's carrying it looks like a 164 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: large version of snap and pops. Do you guys remember 165 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: those the little paper bags that you would throw and 166 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,599 Speaker 1: they would have a pop with a tiny little you know, like, 167 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: because yeah, it looks it looks very similar to that, 168 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: or maybe tea bags wrapped in twine. The thing is 169 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: that although they launched thousands and thousands of these balloons, 170 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: they didn't cause the level of havoc that the Japanese 171 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: military hoped they would create. They did have some damaging 172 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: psychological effects because you look up in the sky and 173 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: there's this balloon invasion that's unexplained. And the amazing thing 174 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: is that they made it across the Pacific at all 175 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: at all. They were launched from Japan to the US 176 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: and into Canada, and that trip took several days, again 177 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: with no one on board, no one steering. And here's 178 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: one of the problems. The US reacted in a very 179 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 1: strange way. Two days after the initial launch, there's a 180 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: Navy patrol off the coast of California and they see 181 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: some tattered cloth in the sea. They retrieve it and 182 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: they noticed that as Japanese characters on it. They alert 183 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,320 Speaker 1: the FBI, and then two weeks later more c debris 184 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: of balloons that didn't make the journey or found and 185 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: the military started putting together the puzzle pieces. They said, 186 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: something is up. And then over the next four weeks, 187 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: reports of balloons started coming in from all across the 188 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: western half of North America, KA and everyday American citizens 189 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: began seeing these tattered pieces of cloth or hearing explosions 190 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: in the distance. December nine, workers at a coal mine 191 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: that was near Thermopolos, wyoming Um described seeing a quote 192 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: parachute in the air with lighted flares um and after 193 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: hearing a whistling noise, that's when they heard the sound 194 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: of an explosion and they saw smoke very near the mine. 195 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: And the military immediately freaks out about this, But initially 196 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: they are not worried about explosives being carried by balloons. 197 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: Some of the folks in the military on the U. 198 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: S side are concerned that these balloons may carry something 199 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: potentially far more dangerous than explosives. They are concerned that 200 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: these balloons may carry biological weapons, and they thought maybe 201 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,959 Speaker 1: the balloons were being launched from the Japanese relocation or 202 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: internment camps existed at the time, or German pow camps, 203 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: and it wasn't until um later in December of nineteen 204 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: a military intelligence project was put together to evaluate and 205 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,559 Speaker 1: collect various evidence of these balloon sites and they figured 206 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,679 Speaker 1: out they were coming from Japan, not just made by 207 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: Japanese forces, but coming from Japan when they looked into 208 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: a ballast and found that the sand inside the ballast 209 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 1: was from a beach in the south of Japan, and 210 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: they realized that these were men to carry explosives. And 211 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: the problem with those explosives is that they could pose 212 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: a huge danger to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, 213 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: that's right, because it's very dry in the winter and 214 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: these forest fires could really spread and cause some serious havoc. 215 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: And that was exactly what the Japanese had in mind. Again, 216 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: they weren't thinking this is going to you know, put 217 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: a real dent militarily in the US forces, but it 218 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: would cause cause, uh, some panic and be pretty inconvenient. 219 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: But the military pretty quickly realized that these um weren't 220 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: very precision targeted, that they were pretty aimless UM and 221 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: even though they realized that they were not going to 222 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: be very successful. As we heard from the folks that 223 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: reported from the coal mine, it kind of blew up 224 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: in mid air and didn't actually cause any damage, just 225 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: kind of freaked them out. Um. They still the military 226 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: did not warn the public, did not They kept it 227 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: very top secret, and they did their investigation into it, 228 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: like he described, but they didn't put out any kind 229 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: of notice. So people were still seeing these clusters of 230 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: weird floating jellyfish and didn't know what the hell was 231 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: going on. Was it a UFO, was it an errant? Uh? 232 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: Domestic hobbyists, what was that smoke in the distance? Did 233 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: you also hear that explosion? It was With the benefit 234 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: of retrospect, we can say the U. S. Military took 235 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: the wrong course of action when they decided I did 236 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,359 Speaker 1: to stay silent because in the last when there's no transparency, 237 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: speculation thrives. But their logic did make sense at the time, 238 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: because they didn't want the Japanese forces to get a 239 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: morale boost from hearing anything about this operation being a success. 240 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: The Office of Censorship went so far as to instruct 241 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: newspapers and radio stations not to discuss the balloons in 242 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: print or on air, and they made that decree on 243 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: January four of nineteen, and the Japanese only heard about 244 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: one balloon incident on the North American continent, and that 245 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: was through a Chinese newspaper. Now, as innovative and unsuccessful 246 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: as this plan may sound, the unfortunate truth is that 247 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: they did cause some fatalities. Yeah, that's the thing they 248 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: kept the The U. S. Military kept this thing under 249 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: any tight wraps until an incident occurred, UM that actually 250 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: did cause some casualties. Now, Japanese Domain News Agency was 251 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: reporting UM on February seventeenth that this had been a success, 252 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: since it is a propaganda paper, and it was really 253 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: really really inflating the numbers, staying between five hundred and 254 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: ten thousand casualties occurred. UM. But here's the reality. It 255 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: was actually uh six six casualties and they were historically 256 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: the only casualties on American soil for World War two, 257 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: which is crazy because you think you would have heard 258 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: of this, and I had never heard of this until 259 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: he looked into it. So what happened? So this takes 260 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: place in Bligh, Oregon. It was a Sunday school picnic. 261 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: They approached the mysterious debris of one of these balloons. 262 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: A fellow named Reverend Archie Mitchell was about to yellow 263 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: warning to the kids when the balloon exploded. Sherman Shoemaker, 264 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: Edward Ingen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patsky, and Dick Patsky were 265 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: all killed. And these were children. They were eleven to 266 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: fourteen years old. The reverend's wife, Elsie Mitchell, also died, 267 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: and she was five months pregnant. This tragedy is what 268 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: caused the U. S. Military to finally break its silence 269 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: and its suppression of the story, and so they began 270 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: issuing warnings not to tamper with anything that looked remotely 271 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: like one of these balloons. Because let's just backtrack slightly. Um, 272 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: this balloon wasn't deployed properly. It's not like it fell 273 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: on them. It was already on the ground, on the ground. 274 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: And like basically, this woman when she pulled the family 275 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: car pulled over because she was feeling some morning sickness, 276 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: and she discovered this bundle of stuff that looked kind 277 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: of like paper, like almost like origami paper or something 278 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: like that, and thought it was neat looking, and they 279 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: started poking at it or something right, Yeah, yeah, and 280 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: she said, look what I found, dear. According to the 281 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: Male Tribune newspaper in southern Oregon, there's a great article 282 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: you can read about this from David Kravitz writing on Wired. 283 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: May five, Japanese balloon bomb kills six in Oregon. So 284 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,439 Speaker 1: it left these innocent people dead in a in a 285 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: horrific scene. They didn't all die immediately. Joan Patsky died 286 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: minutes after being seriously injured. There was a one ft 287 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: hole in the ground. And although they were, as you said, 288 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: nol the only known casualties of this operation, the US 289 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: government didn't want to take any chances, so they issued 290 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: you know, they started warning people not to mess with 291 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: these things. They also, at the same time, somewhat counter 292 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: intuitively or paradoxically, emphasized that the balloons did not represent 293 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,199 Speaker 1: a serious threat, and they said, just report these, just 294 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: let us know if you see them, will send someone 295 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: to take care of them. And that led to, you know, 296 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: as we said, three two incidents being recorded, with various 297 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: parts recovered, but no lives lost. They did, however, have 298 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: a very close call with infrastructure. Yeah, one of them 299 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,239 Speaker 1: had a power line and caused a blackout at a 300 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,359 Speaker 1: weapons facility in Hanford, Washington, a nuclear weapons facility that 301 00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:33,400 Speaker 1: could have gone a lot worse than it. And according 302 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: to Colonel Franklin Matthias, the Hanford plant did lose about 303 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: two days of production. But he thought he as he recalls, 304 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: at least, he says, we were all tickled to death 305 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 1: that this happened because it proved our backup system worked 306 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: as far as keeping everything stable when they lose the power. 307 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: And another guy there, Vincent Bud Whitehead, who is a 308 00:19:56,119 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: counterintelligence agency at Hanford, recalled chasing and bringing own another balloon, 309 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: and he was chasing it from a small airplane. Get this, 310 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,920 Speaker 1: this is crazy. This is what he literally did. He says, 311 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: I threw a brick at it. I put a hole 312 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: in it, and it went down. I got out there 313 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: and started trumping all over that thing and got all 314 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: the gas out of it. A radioed in that I 315 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: have found it and got it. They sent a bus 316 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: up with all the specially trained personnel gloves full of 317 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: contamination suits mask. I have been walking around on that 318 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: stuff and they had not told me that they were 319 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: afraid of bacterial warfare. I know. I want to do 320 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 1: a quick correction, It wasn't. The balloon didn't hit the 321 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: Hanford site. It hit the Bonneville Power Administration in Washington, 322 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: which supplied power to the Hanford side. That was one 323 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: of the biggest consumers of power from that particular grid, 324 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: and so that could have caused some major problems. And 325 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:52,360 Speaker 1: so balloon sightings continued throughout the years. It's it's interesting 326 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: because you know how these kind of things can take 327 00:20:55,359 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: over a country's collective attention span. Right just after the war, 328 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: reports continued to come in from far and wide about 329 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: balloon incidents. Uh. The Beatrice Daily Sun reports them over 330 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: seven different towns in Nebraska, including oh Maha. The Winnipeg 331 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: Tribune notes that there's a balloon bomb found ten miles 332 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: from Detroit one near Grand Rapids. They were still finding 333 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: balloon bombs as far as like the mid nineteen fifties. Yeah, 334 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: that's the thing. I mean, these were like artifacts at 335 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: this point, right, they were exploded already or maybe they 336 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 1: didn't go off properly, and they were scattered because I 337 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: mean that's ten thousand that were deployed with various that 338 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: that ended up scattered all over the country. Um, I 339 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: think that they made it as far as Michigan. I 340 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: want to say, right, yeah, they made as far as Michigan, 341 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: Hawaii and Alaska. I believe it was in January of 342 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the US 343 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:58,159 Speaker 1: Air Force discovered a balloon in Alaska in nineteen fifty five, 344 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,239 Speaker 1: and then in ninety four looking back and know if 345 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: it called. The Santa Cruz Sentinel noted that a fellow 346 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: named Burt Weber, who was an author and the researcher, 347 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: had found forty five different balloon bombs in Oregon, thirty 348 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: seven in Alaska, twenty eight in Washington, in twenty five 349 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 1: in California, and reports still continued to pour in. There 350 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 1: was one found in October of twenty fourteen. Really yeah yeah, 351 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: in British Columbia. According to Henry Prose of the RCMP 352 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,719 Speaker 1: or Royal Canadian mount of Police, this balloon had been 353 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: in the dirt for seventy years, and he said it 354 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: would have been way too dangerous to move it. So 355 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: it's possible that someone founded in the intervening decades and 356 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: just decided to let sleeping dogs lie. So, in other words, 357 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,919 Speaker 1: they didn't work. They were duds, right like the fuse 358 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: didn't ignite properly, and then they just went down and 359 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: there was no boom. But still if you mess with it, 360 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,679 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, could you could cause it 361 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: to explode. I don't think we found this ben But 362 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: what was the material? I know the balloons were hydrogen balloons, 363 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 1: so that could have even aided in the spreading of 364 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: the fire because that's highly flammable, like in Hendenburg and 365 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: all that. But what was the material the explosives were 366 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: made of. Incendiary bomb is kind of a genre of bomb. 367 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: It can include stuff like napalm, magnesium powder, white phosphorus. 368 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: These used thermite and thermite is uh, how did you say? 369 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: Did it occur in Breaking Back? Yeah, there's is one 370 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,360 Speaker 1: of those mcgever kind of moments in Breaking Bad where 371 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: I think he uses an etch a sketch or like 372 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: the iron filings in an etch a sketch to create 373 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: thermite or to make a reaction that that that produces 374 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: this explosion. Yeah. Thermite is a mixture of finely powdered 375 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: aluminum and iron oxide. It creates a really high temperature 376 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: and combustion, and it's often used in welding and for 377 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:05,439 Speaker 1: incendiary bombs. So this is this is dangerous stuff. And 378 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:10,719 Speaker 1: in when the RCMP found this, you know, this ancient bomb, 379 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: they handled it by putting C four explosives on either 380 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: side of the thing and blowing it to smithereens and 381 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,159 Speaker 1: thermite burned so hot that it can as it was 382 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,880 Speaker 1: used in that scene in Breaking Bad Melt and Metal. Yeah, 383 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: oh yeah, I mean, it's it's a it's a biggie. 384 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: It's nothing to play with. So it's interesting because we 385 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,239 Speaker 1: have to consider how much of this plan and how 386 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: much of the fallout of it hinged purely on chance, 387 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. That's the thing we talked 388 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: about earlier at the top of the show. There's really 389 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: no way even if you're manning a balloon or you're 390 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: piloting a balloon, you're kind of just able to go 391 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: up and down. I mean, we talked off air about 392 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: how zeppelin or a blimp is a more or less 393 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: a steerable hot air balloon because it's more streamlined and 394 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: it moves in a forward direction, right, and it's got 395 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: like a fan system. Um. But this kind of balloon 396 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: really can only go up and down. And as we 397 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: described earlier, it was a kind of altitude controlled system. 398 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: I believe I set it the other way around earlier 399 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,360 Speaker 1: in the show, so I just want to correct myself there. 400 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 1: If it was going too high, then hydrogen would be 401 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: released from the balloon, and if it was going too low, 402 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: then sandbags would be deployed. And it was all this 403 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: kind of valve that was controlled like barametrically to keep 404 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 1: it at a more or less consistent altitude in order 405 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 1: to have the most consistent path because it was being, 406 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: you know, pushed along by these these winter jet streams. 407 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: But once you let them go, there's just no precision. 408 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: It's like the episode we did on the bat bombs, 409 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: remember that ben very similar where they had to be 410 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: deployed automatically using very similar methods mechanisms I imagine or 411 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: I believe. Uh. And those were a big old mess too, 412 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: and didn't we we used those against the Japanese, remember, 413 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: because we dropped them on Japanese villages because the houses 414 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: were made of wood and paper and stuff, and they 415 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: would potentially burn the houses right, well, not not you 416 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: and I specifically, you know, the bats would the bats 417 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: would nest in the eaves and then they had timers 418 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,919 Speaker 1: that would then eventually set off the devices. But that 419 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: was a big flop too. That's the thing about innovation, 420 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: it's it's always risky. Let's talk a little bit about 421 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: the nuts and bolts of how this thing actually exploded, 422 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: Like what what triggers the bomb? Well, there were a 423 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,439 Speaker 1: couple of different types of ordinance or payload is the 424 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: military term that they used. I think most of them 425 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: used thermite, but they were just different sizes and there 426 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: are different ones that had slightly different mechanisms anti personnel 427 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,679 Speaker 1: and Incindia's right exactly. But the incendiary device that I 428 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: think was most common had a fuse that gets armed 429 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: during flight, and then when it's dropped on impact, there's 430 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: a magazine that's fired which then ignites a black powder charge. 431 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 1: It's much like the way of a pistol works, right, 432 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: and then that in turn ignites a central channel that 433 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 1: contains another charge and then the incendiary material, and there 434 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,919 Speaker 1: are these different pots that have more black powdered charge, 435 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 1: and then the explosive force of those reactions that chain 436 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: reaction that triggers the thermite, and then the body of 437 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,240 Speaker 1: the bomb actually erupts. It's enough too, because it's it's 438 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: made of metal, right, and so we we see the logic, 439 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: we see how this could work, and we see the 440 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: primary flaw on the plan, the reliance on chance, right 441 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: on on who fortune favors that day. And this speaks 442 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: to the desperate state of the war, you know, in 443 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: the in the desperate state of the Japanese military at 444 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: the time. While weaponized balloons did not work out for 445 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,919 Speaker 1: the Japanese military World War two, that doesn't mean that 446 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: our species has given up all hope of weaponizing balloons. 447 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: In fact, we're still as a species developing weaponized balloons today. 448 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: The United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency contracted 449 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,439 Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin to construct what they called a high Altitude 450 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 1: Airship or HA for short through for part of its 451 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: ballistic Missile Defense system. This thing is unmanned. It is 452 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: supposed to operate at a height of over sixty thousand 453 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 1: feet or eighteen thousand meters in a quasi geo stationary position, 454 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: to be a surveillance aircraft, to relate telecommunications, and to 455 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: observe weather. Pretty pretty crazy stuff, you know, yeah for sure. 456 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: And I think that, you know, the way balloons are 457 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: used mostly today is for observing weather. And then I 458 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: think there was there was a remember the Google Loon project. 459 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: I love the name. Yeah. It was a way to 460 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: deploy wireless internet connectivity in rural area rural areas, and 461 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: it was literally like, you know, some sort of broadcast 462 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: device that was attached to a balloon that could then 463 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: hover over like these areas and they could like get 464 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: WiFi that way. Man, I love blimps and balloons so much. 465 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: I get that they're silly. A few years ago, our 466 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: pal Scott Benjamin and I got really close to getting 467 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: into a good Year blimp. And the more I think 468 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: about it, you know, the only reason we don't have 469 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: more blimps now is because someone would be a jerk 470 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: and attack them or blow them up. Why can't we 471 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: have nice things? Why can't I have a blimp? I know, 472 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: I know, and I'll tell you this. I I tell 473 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: you I would not want to ride in a basket 474 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: on a hot air balloon, but I'd be totally cool 475 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 1: with riding in a blimp in style. Right. It's just 476 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: a bigger beast first class for me, baby, right Like 477 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Remember he hops 478 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: on an airship. Oh yeah, airships are so cool because 479 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: They're so ominous and so slow moving, and they have 480 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: this kind of like doom bringer kind of quality to them, 481 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: you know, and they make me think of like Sky 482 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: Captain in the World of Tomorrow. It's kind of like 483 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: idea of like a weird, steam punky kind of future. 484 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: You know. Angelia and Joliev with an ipatch eye patches 485 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: are so cool. Her eyepatch didn't have a string though, 486 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: it just kind of like stuck there. Yeah, it was 487 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: just the patch because because of the future, because of 488 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 1: the because of the retro future. Well, no, while I 489 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: am well, I'm candidly a little bit let down poor 490 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,479 Speaker 1: choice of words that that you don't want to go 491 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: in a hot air balloon. I totally understand where you're 492 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: coming from, and I would ride in a blimp with you. 493 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram. Would you ride in a hot air balloon? 494 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: You know? What if I had a hot air balloon 495 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: handy and we could be like up and back down 496 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: pretty soon, would you would you hop on um? I'll 497 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: consider it. I'll consider it. What if there was guarantee 498 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: that we would take you to the land of oz Um, 499 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: I'll consider it, okay, by which we mean Australia exactly 500 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: the land of Ozzies. So let us know what you think, 501 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 1: let us know about your balloon experiences. Us know if 502 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: you would be in a hot air balloon, and you know, honestly, 503 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: we just have to shoot our shot at some point. 504 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 1: There's no harm in asking do you have a blimp? 505 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: Do you have access to a blimp? Because we would 506 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: love to hang out with you on your blimp. That 507 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: would be a pretty ball or vehicle to own. Only 508 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: the elitest of the elite. You know, on a blimp. 509 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: It's such a it's such a like unless it's one 510 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: of those high altitude surveillance platforms. It feels like any 511 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: private citizen who just says I want a blimp is 512 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: buying this billionaire's toys. I'm saying, if you have a blimp, 513 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: you also have to have like a hangar, a blimp 514 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: sized hangar, or some way to tether it to like 515 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: the top of your you know, skyscraper or whatever. It 516 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: would be so cool to be at a blimp. It 517 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: would be pretty cool. We did an episode on blimps 518 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: on like that was that it was like made of 519 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: pig skin or something like that, or it was made 520 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: of you know, some organic material, and I believe there 521 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: was a time where they were infrastructure where it was 522 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: being put in place to like stow blimps, and they 523 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: were literally tethered to the tops of building. Yes, that 524 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: is correct, and they could get into them that way 525 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 1: like they would like lower down ladders. I don't remember 526 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 1: exactly how how it worked. And if you want to 527 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: learn more about airships, dirigibles, hot air balloons and blimps, 528 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: you can check out you can check out some old 529 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: car stuff episodes early in our respective careers. So uh, 530 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: do be kind, but yes, please let us know about 531 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: your airship and balloon adventures. You can find us on 532 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: our Facebook group Ridiculous Historians, where you can meet our 533 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: favorite part of the show, your fellow listeners. You can 534 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: also find us on Twitter and Instagram, either as our 535 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: show or Dramatic Pause, as ourselves individually. I am at 536 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: Embryonic Insider, I am at Ben Bowling also Massive Things, 537 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: as always to super producer Casey Pegram as always big 538 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,400 Speaker 1: thanks to our research associate Gabe Losier, Alex Williams who 539 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: composed our theme, Our dear friend and spirit here with 540 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: us now, Christopher hasciotis Um and you Ben I'd like 541 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,160 Speaker 1: to thank you for just being such a dapper young 542 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 1: lad with a heart of gold and a fine head 543 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: of hair. Well, thank you, Noel. I appreciate that. And 544 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: likewise to you. You've got a killer hat on and 545 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: I've you know, I've been admiring your gorilla hat for 546 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: anyone who doesn't know. Uh, my friend here is a 547 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: big fan of ball caps and as has quite a collection. 548 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,760 Speaker 1: And I gotta tell you, man, I appreciate that compliment 549 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: because I'm I'm feeling a little a little under the 550 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: weather today. I'm kind of slumming, and I'm wearing jeans. 551 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: Oh I can't see them because they're underneath the table 552 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: from where I set. You look like a fine, strapping 553 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 1: young lad. Thank you, thank you, I I appreciate. I 554 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: wonder where the phrase strapping came from to describe someone 555 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: as capable. Story for another time, I think so I 556 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: think we should explore it on another episode of Ridiculous History. 557 00:33:52,920 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. For more podcasts from my 558 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 559 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.