75 YEARS AGO THE UFO SIGHTING BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2/24-25/1942 Los Angeles California

Fearful of a Japanese coastal attack upon mainland America, the city of Los Angeles was on edge in the months following the surprise attack upon Pearl Harbor. These "war nerves" came to fruition in the late-evening/early-morning hours of February 24th and 25th, 1942. Believing an enemy bombing attack was occurring, a blackout ensued and over 1400 explosive anti-artillery shells were fired into the skies, after a phantom target (or targets) was allegedly spotted over the city's airspace. While never fully explained, most believe the scare was a false alarm possibly triggered by a weather balloon. However, some UFO researchers contend that the unidentified aerial object that was fired upon was actually an alien craft. Much of the UFO/extraterrestrial association has been attributed to heavily retouched news photos from the time that show nebulous "lights" amidst the anti-artillery searchlights and shell blasts. Whether war jitters or a repelled alien attack, the mysterious event known as "The Battle of Los Angeles" would go down as one of the most famous cases in UFO lore.