Battle of Los Angeles — AA Barrage on UAP

In the early morning hours of February 25, 1942, air raid sirens sounded across Los Angeles County. US Army anti-aircraft batteries of the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade fired approximately 1,400 rounds of 12.8-pound shells at an object tracked by searchlights over the city. The object was described by military witnesses as silver in color, moving slowly at roughly 9,000 feet, and remaining stationary at times while under sustained fire. No object fell. Shrapnel from the barrage fell across the city, killing three people in car accidents and causing two fatal heart attacks. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox told the press the incident was a 'false alarm' caused by 'war nerves.' Secretary of War Henry Stimson contradicted him the following day, stating a physical object was present in the sky and that the Army had fired on it. General George Marshall sent a classified memo to President Roosevelt stating the object could not be identified. The Army's after-action report, declassified decades later, recorded genuine radar returns and multiple trained military observers who could not identify the object. No aircraft — American, Japanese, or otherwise — was ever confirmed to have been in the area.