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During World War II the Japanese constructed nearly 10,000 lighter-than-air balloons for the purpose of carrying destructive pay loads to the U.S. Between November 1944 and April 1945 these balloons made use of the prevailing west-to-east jet stream over the North Pacific Ocean. Nearly 285 sightings and fragment findings have been recorded in North America, and 5 deaths resulted. This was the first and only attack upon the American continent directly from an enemy homeland.

 Identifier

NASM.XXXX.0558

Creator

Mikesh, Robert C.

Date

1860-1988

bulk 1945-1983

Provenance

NASM Generated, Transfer, unknown, NASM.XXXX.0558.

Extent

1.51 Cubic feet (3 legal document boxes)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection was gathered by National Air and Space Museum curator Robert C. Mikesh for his publication on this subject, "Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America." The collection consists of the following: magazine and newspaper articles on the Japanese balloons; manuscripts and independent articles; 83 photos Mr. Mikesh used in his book and 68 miscellaneous photos collected for research purposes; also photocopies of Japanese balloon illustrations and Japanese balloon propaganda reports. The collection also includes the working files of Kiyoshi Tanaka, the Supervisor Technical Lieutenant Commander for the Japanese Navy balloon project, and multiple copies of Mr. Mikesh's publication.

Arrangement note

The collection is arranged as originally numbered and titled by Robert C. Mikesh. Additional folder title information has been added by the processing archivist in brackets.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Japanese World War II Balloon Bombs Collection, Acc. XXXX.0558, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

World War, 1939-1945

Balloons

Air defenses -- United States

Air defenses

Aeronautics, Military

Aeronautics

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Reports

Photographs

Publications

Manuscripts

Clippings