#fu-go

Japanese WWII Fu-Go incendiary balloon

I didn't know they actually killed 7 people in Oregon. And didn't know the FU-GOs made it so far inland. Thought it worth sharing.

A fire balloon, or Fu-Go, was a weapon launched by Japan during World War II. A hydrogen balloon with a load varying from a 12-kilogram (26 lb) incendiary to one 15 kg (33 lb) antipersonnel bomb and four 5 kg (11 lb) incendiary devices attached, they were designed as a cheap weapon intended to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and wreak havoc on Canadian and American cities, forests, and farmland. This photo is one that was shot down and re-inflated.

Map was sourced from: Mikesh, Bob C, Japan’s World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America Smithsonian Annals of Flight #9. Smithsonian Institution Press, City of Washington, 1973. Page 67,68.