Jittery Nerves in the ‘Battle of L.A.’

Radar stations picked up an unidentified object over Santa Monica Bay at 2:25 a.m. The region’s antiaircraft batteries -- the largest at Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro -- went into action, firing nearly 1,500 rounds into the suddenly well-lighted sky. Air raid sirens wailed, waking thousands of people; some grabbed guns and ran outside in their pajamas. The city was blacked out for nearly five hours. In the resulting panic, five people died -- three in car crashes and two of heart attacks. The event became known as the “Battle of Los Angeles.” To this day it is unclear what happened. The Japanese deny that their warplanes ever flew over Los Angeles. Official U.S. wartime records are inconclusive. Although some residents later claimed that they had seen a globular or triangular craft in the sky, and UFO buffs still make much of the episode, military officials blamed it all on jittery nerves and a wayward meteorological balloon. There is no evidence that any bombs were dropped or any shots fired from the air.