No, I will not speak of "Invasion of the world - Battle of Los Angeles" ("Battle LA"), because it seems that there is much (good) to say. Critics speak of " other Independence Day, but argument" also " a kind of Black Hawk Down, Somali aliens changing " and, in general, what we hear is that it is a mixture of explosions and corny.
But I stop at a point that interests me: according to official review of the film, "was inspired by the so-called Battle of Los Angeles, no clear episode of the Second World War."
What was then that episode? Step to tell.
The year is 1942 and did not appear to be very auspicious for the United States. Its Pacific fleet had just been almost destroyed in Pearl Harbor and, instead, the Japanese imperialist adventure seemed to go smoothly.
was fear of an invasion, not only in Hawaiian or other Pacific Islands but also in the continental USA. And there was less fear of spoilers, which could lead submarine or parachute. All this was to be lived in alert, watchful attention.
And something happened in the night 24 to February 25, 1942 , which would be called "The Battle of Los Angeles."
at 3:16 am, after sirens sounded in Los Angeles, was ordered to a Coast Artillery Brigade who opened fire with antiaircraft guns. reason? A report of a sighting of an unidentified aerial craft. observers were unable to establish what kind of ship it was, despite being trained for it, because it did not match any known apparatus.
At the same time, gave the alert fighter aircraft Interceptor Command, but the left on the ground to avoid being damaged by flak own.
artillery batteries did their thing and fired about 1400 shells , until he cease-fire order at 4:14 am Then he continued sweeping the night sky with searchlights, where you just at 7 : 21 is closed the alert.
What was the outcome of the busy night? For starters, six people were killed (three of them by heart attacks caused by panic unleashed). And the incident received front page coverage in every newspaper in the West Coast and was widely discussed on radio.
But what concerns us is: what was it that was that night? is known that it was not an airplane or a balloon Japanese (it was investigated in Nipponese files at the end of the war.) However, this was the first explanation given at the time: as there was no bombing, concluded that there was a Japanese military unit, but civil apparatus of that country, used to fly over Los Angeles as a psychological weapon .
Beyond that Japanese records do not indicate any mission in Los Angeles that night, I invite you to reflect for a second The enormity of the blunder that intended to use as official explanation for the sighting: imagine a passenger plane at the time, unarmed, who draws upon himself a hell of flak and leaves intact (and all to do a little noise and cause a little fear).
When the press was (obviously) skeptical about the official explanation that became "was all a false alarm." amendment was not better than the sonnet. Several newspapers spoke of the military reluctance to tell the truth about the case, attempts at censorship by the military and covert operations in the area in subsequent days.
However, in the midst of a war, more news soon covered up to this strange sighting never satisfactorily explained. That was called (with or without cause) the Battle of Los Angeles.
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