Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] magazine article

[Lew Clayman <lew_clayman@yahoo.com>]

--- Coalbunny <coalbunny@onewest.net> wrote:
> I recall the Japs did a ballon-bomb thing out of desperation.  Some went
> way past the states and some actually worked as planned.  Then there's
> the Russian Bear that went down east of Nome back in the early '70s.
> Carl

Yes, in WWII they launched balloon incendiaries against the Pacific coast.  Not
real effective, but mighty creative.  Gotta give 'em credit for going outside
the box.  Cleverest part might be that we (US) couldn't steal the idea and use
it easily back against them, since it works best west-to-east, with the
prevailing winds.  In order to have used it against the main Japanese islands,
the allies would first have had to capture China or else achieve naval
superiority in the seas west of Japan - either would have been close to total
victory, so the balloon weapon would have been, on the part of the allies, at
most a tactical detail in the final invasion battles.  Whereas, had it
functioned at all well, Japan could have used it effectively throughout the
war.  Not to mention that Japan is a far smaller target for an unguided
balloon, and a miss by the allies might well have drifted all the way to our
own shores - whereas if the Japanese balloons missed the United States, they'd
most likely hit Canada, almost as useful to them.  Clever!  Good thing for us
that the balloons flat-out sucked as weapons, in actual practice.

What was the "Russian Bear" you mention?

-Lew

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"I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." 
             - Pascal, Provincial Letters XVI
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