| A Japanese Fu-Go 10 meter (32 foot) diameter mulberry paper balloon re-inflated at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California following its downing by a Navy aircraft about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Alturas, California. This balloon now belongs to the National Air and Space Museum. This balloon was sighted on January 10, 1945, over Alturas, California. Over Lakeview, Oregon, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter pursued and raked the balloon with machine gun fire, which did not explode the envelope into fire. The balloon descended on the Tule Lake region, California, site of a Japanese American internment camp. The balloon was recovered intact at Happy Camp in Modoc National Forest. Forest Rangers in a Piper Cub were asked to locate the balloon bomb, but then the military took control, loading the Fu-Go into a truck and barring the Rangers from the crash site. While the Americans had the resources to develop the atomic bomb, Japan developed an unconventional way to deliver conventional munitions. Thousands of balloon bombs were released to take high altitude and drift on the jet stream, but only a few 100 were found in the US. Roosevelt wanted it kept secret, so the public would not panic. The Japanese hoped the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest would catch on fire. They failed to account for the high rainfall in that area, or the sheer size of the forests. American aircraft shot down the Fu-Gos, and parachuting firefighters, including African Americans, were flown into fight fires before they got out of control. In Oregon in 1945, Reverend Archie E. Mitchell (May 1, 1918 – presumed dead May 30, 1962), took his wife Elsie Winters Mitchell (February 26, 1919 – May 5, 1945) and 4 children from their church, Edward Engen (May 23, 1931 – May 5, 1945), Jay Gifford (March 29, 1932 – May 5, 1945), Dick Patzke (May 9, 1930 – May 5, 1945), Ethel Joan Patzke (December 31, 1931 – May 5, 1945), and Sherman Shoemaker (May 30, 1933 – May 5, 1945), on a fishing trip. 1 of the children discovered a Fu-Go balloon bomb, and not knowing what it was, brought back to the group. Elsie and the children were killed after the Fu-Go balloon bomb detonated. The press was asked to suppress the story until after the war. They are the only known North American casualties of the ballon bombs. The balloon bombs landed as far East as Michigan. Live Fu-Go bombs were still being discovered into the 21st century. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1616.jpg |
| Image Size | 397.04 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1377 x 1800 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Air Force |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 10, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Moffett Field |
| State or Province | California |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Museum of the United States Air Force |
| Record Number | 050607-F-1234P-026 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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