Battle of Los Angeles

1,400 anti-aircraft shells fired at one slow object. It drifted away untouched.

February 25, 1942, 3 a.m.: air-raid sirens, searchlights converging on an object over Culver City, and 1,430 anti-aircraft rounds fired for nearly an hour. No wreckage, no downed enemy aircraft; five deaths from friendly fire and heart attacks. The Army first announced planes, then weather balloon, then war nerves. The famous searchlight photograph was retouched for print — both versions survive, feeding both readings. It sits at the head of the wartime file, three months after Pearl Harbor and five years before Roswell.