The barrage began just after 2 AM, following reports of an unidentified object over the city. For nearly two hours, gun crews blasted the sky, yet no wreckage or enemy aircraft were ever found. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox famously dismissed the event the next day as a case of 'war nerves,' a false alarm fueled by the recent attack on Pearl Harbor just months earlier and the real fear of a West Coast invasion. A 1983 U.S. Air Force historical study concluded the most likely culprit was a los

How Effective Were Barrage Balloons in World War II? | War History Online