When there were no reports of actual damage in the US, the Japanese media had made up fake stories about the weakening of American resolve. As more sightings occurred, the U.S. government, with the cooperation of the media, adopted a policy of censorship and silencing, to reduce the chances of panic among American residents and to deny the Japanese any information about the success of the launches.Discouraged by the apparent failure of their efforts (in the absence of any reference in the . Reportedly, these were the only documented casualties of the plot. 42 15.106 N, 102 13.745 W. Marker is near Ellsworth, Nebraska, in Sheridan County. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Attached were bombs composed of sensors, powder-packed tubes, triggering devices and other simple and complex mechanisms. For Rev. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. In the winter of 1943 and 1944, meteorologists, with support from the engineers tasked to develop transpacific balloons, tested the winter jet stream. For two years the military produced thousands of balloons with skins of lightweight, but durable, paper made from mulberry wood that was stitched together by conscripted schoolgirls oblivious to their sinister purposes. Little was known about the purpose of these balloons at first, and some military officials worried that they carried biological weapons. This knocked out the power, and our controls tripped fast enough so there was no heat rise to speak of. The only casualties they caused were the deaths of five innocent children and a pregnant woman, the first and only fatalities in the continental United States due to enemy action in World War II. Their launch sites were located on the east coast of the main Japanese island of Honsh. Known as "fire balloons," these balloons were reportedly filled with hydrogen and carried bombs that weight as much as 33 pounds. Cookie Settings, Photo courtesy Robert Mikesh Collection, National Museum of the Pacific War, Japans World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America, a military bomb disposal unit had to blow it up, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. The joint army-navy research into this operation came to an abrupt halt, however, when every submarine was recalled for the Guadalcanal operation in August 1943. But by then, Germanys surrender dominated headlines. Is Eddie dead? The currents had been investigated by Japanese scientist Wasaburo Oishi in the 1920s; in late 1943, the Army consulted Hidetoshi Arakawa of the Central Meteorological Observatory, who used Oishi's data to extrapolate the air currents across the Pacific Ocean and estimate that a balloon released in winter and that maintained an altitude of 30,000 to 35,000 feet (9,100 to 10,700m) could reach the North American continent in 30 to 100 hours. In the months leading up to that spring day on Gearhart Mountain, there had been some warning signs, apparitions scattered around the western United States that were largely unexplainedat least to the general public. By the end of May 1945, however, the military decided in the interest of public safety to reveal the true cause of the explosion and warn Americans to beware of any strange white balloons they might encounterinformation divulged a month too late for the victims in Oregon. [10] The balloons were constructed from four to five thin layers of washi, a durable paper derived from the paper mulberry (kzo) bush, which were glued together with konnyaku (Japanese potato) paste. The final balloon design was 33 feet (10m) in diameter, and had a gas volume of 19,000 cubic feet (540m3) and a lifting capacity of 300 pounds (140kg) at operating altitude. In February 17, 1945, the Japanese used the Domei News Agency to broadcast directly to America in English and claimed that 500 or 10,000 casualties (the news accounts differ) had been inflicted and fires caused, all from their fire balloons. The balloons, or "envelopes", designed by the Japanese army were made of lightweight paper fashioned from the bark of trees. The winter was the dry season, during which forest fires could turn very destructive and spread easily. They were call Fu-Gos, or balloon bombs. Balloon bombs aimed to be the silent assassins of World War II. February 3, 2023 at 3:02 p.m. EST A Japanese bomb-carrying paper balloon in North America in 1945. Three hundred sixty-one of the balloons have been found in twenty-six states, Canada and Mexico. In December, folks at a coal mine close to Thermopolis, Wyo., saw "a parachute in the air, with lighted flares and after hearing a whistling noise, heard an explosion and saw smoke in a draw near the mine about 6:15 pm," Powles writes. Military officials began to piece together that a strange new weapon, with markings indicating it had been manufactured in Japan, had reached American shores. Missouri University of Science & Technology. They emphasized that the balloons did not represent serious threats, but should be reported. It was made of 600 pieces of paper. Experts estimate it took between 30 and 60 hours for a balloon bomb to reach North America's West Coast. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? The Gordon Journal published the column, which said in part, "As a final act of desperation, it is believed that the Japs may release fire balloons aimed at our great forests in the northwest". May 5, 2021. [b][23], Balloon found near Alturas, California, on January 10, 1945, reinflated for tests, Balloon found near Bigelow, Kansas, on February 23, 1945, Balloon found near Nixon, Nevada, on March 29, 1945, Aerial photograph of a balloon taken from an American plane, American authorities concluded the greatest danger from the balloons would be wildfires in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest during dry months. Witnesses remembered these giant jellyfish drifting off into the sky, Mikesh details. [44], A memorial, the Mitchell Monument, was built in 1950 at the site of the explosion. But they have never been bitter over it., These loss of these six lives puts into relief the scale of loss in the enormity of a war that swallowed up entire cities. In the aftermath of the explosion, the small, lumber milling community would bear the added burden of enforced silence. The design was tested in August 1944, but the balloons burst immediately after reaching altitude, determined to be the result of faulty rubberized seams. [33], One breach occurred in late February, when Congressman Arthur L. Miller mentioned the balloons in a weekly column he sent to all 91 newspapers in his Nebraska district. On November 3, 1944, Japan released fusen bakudan, or balloon bombs, into the Pacific jet stream. Lannie. Hundreds were discovered up and down the west coast, and even as far inland as Indiana and Texas. Close to 300 were either found or observed in the U.S., according to Atlas Obscura. When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Irelands Freedom, Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan. Most of the balloon bombs. Over the years, the explosive devices have popped up here and there. "Code 'Fu' [Weapon]") was an incendiary balloon weapon (, fsen bakudan, lit. While Archie parked their car, Elsye and the children stumbled upon a strange-looking object in the forest and shouted back to him. Please be respectful of copyright. [49] Remains of another balloon were found near McBride, British Columbia, in 2019. The second battalion of 700 men in three squadrons operated six launch stations at Ichinomiya, Chiba; and the third battalion of 600 men in two squadrons operated six launch stations at Nakoso, Fukushima. "Distribution of the balloon bombs was quite large," says Nason. In subsequent weeks, the strip's storyline saw the protagonists fight monster vines that sprang from seeds the balloon was carrying, created by an evil Japanese horticulturalist. I put a hole in it and it went down. Archie Mitchell and his wife Elsie packed five children from their Sunday school class at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church into their car and headed out on a fishing trip. The Japanese balloon bomb, in all its terrible splendor. Mitchell would go on to marry the Betty Patzke, the elder sibling out of ten children in Dick and Joan Patzkes family (they lost another brother fighting in the war), and fulfill the dream he and Elsye once shared of going overseas as missionaries. In addition, B-29s had bombed the Showa Denkochemical plant, which heavily limited Japans hydrogen resources. Special thanks also for the use of their music to Jeff Taylor , David Wingo for the use of "Opening" and "Doghouse" - from the Take Shelter soundtrack, Justin Walter 's "Mind Shapes" from his album Lullabies and Nightmares . Using 40-foot-long ropes attached to the balloons, the military mounted incendiary devices and 30-pound high-explosive bombs rigged to drop over North America and spark massive forest fires that would instill panic and divert resources from the war effort. "They put some C-4 on either side of this thing," Proce said, "and they blew it to smithereens. They sent a bus up with all of this specially trained personnel, gloves, full contamination suits, masks. Japanese scientists carefully studied what would become commonly known as the jet stream, realizing these currents of wind could enable balloons to reach United States shores in just a couple of days. On May 5, 1945, six civilians were killed near Bly, Oregon, when they discovered one of the balloon bombs in Fremont National Forest, becoming the only fatalities from Axis action in the continental U.S. during the war. The balloon caused sparks and a fireball that resulted in the power being cut. It's. Sherman Shoemaker, Edward Engen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patzke, and Dick Patzke, all between 11 to 14 years old, were killed, along with Rev. [7], Also in September 1942, Major General Sueki Kusaba, who had served under Tada in the original balloon bomb program in the 1930s, was assigned to the laboratory and revived the Fu-Go project with a focus on longer flights. Balloon bombs launched from Japan were intended for the United Statesmany hit their mark. The balloon bombs, however, presaged the future of warfare. The investigators learned that the Japanese had planned to make 20,000 balloons, but had fallen short of that mark. To date, only a few hundred of the devices have been found and most are still unaccounted for. Dottie McGinnis, sister of Dick and Joan Patzke, later recalled to her daughter in a family memory book the shock of coming home to cars gathered in the driveway, and the devastating news that two of her siblings and friends from the community were gone. Made of processed paper, the 33 1/2-foot bag bore on its side a small incendiary bomb, apparently designed to explode and prevent seizure of the balloon intact. Aerial reconnaissance later located two nearby hydrogen production facilities, which were destroyed by B-29 bombing raids in April 1945. The plan was diabolic. When Col. Sigmund Poole, head of the U.S. Geological Survey military geology unit at the time, was given sand from one of the balloon's ballast bags, he is alleged to have asked, "Where'd the damn sand come from?". 1. A National Geographic team has made the first ascent of the remote Mount Michael, looking for a lava lake in the volcanos crater. The balloon bombs were possibly viewed as a means of exacting some revenge for the extensive US bombing of Japanese cities, which were particularly vulnerable to incendiary attacks. The Japanese balloon bomb, in all its terrible splendor. We do know of one tragic upshot: In the spring of 1945, Powles writes, a pregnant woman and five children were killed by "a 15-kilogram high-explosive anti-personnel bomb from a crashed Japanese balloon" on Gearhart Mountain near Bly, Ore. The bombs were ineffective as fire starters due to damp conditions, causing only minor damage and six deaths in a single civilian incident in Oregon in May 1945. National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Not only were the minister and his wife, Elsie, expecting their first child, but he had also accepted a new post as pastor of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in the sleepy logging town of Bly, Oregon. "balloon bomb") deployed by Japan against the United States during World War II. A month later, on December 6, 1944, witnesses reported an explosion and flame near Thermopolis, Wyoming. Named Fu-Go, the so-called 'balloon bombs' were 10 metres (33 feet) tall, with the ability to carry four 11-pound (5.0 kg) incendiary devices plus one 33-pound (15 kg) anti-personnel bomb. New efforts were then focused on designing a transpacific balloon, one that could be launched from Japan and reach the continental USA. Each balloon was loaded with four incendiaries. None of the balloons, however, had caused any injuriesuntil Mitchells church group came across the wreckage of one on Gearhart Mountain. consternation and prevent the Japanese from discovering their mission's success. Another balloon bomb struck a power line in Washington state, cutting off electricity to the Hanford Engineer Works, where the U.S. was conducting its own secret project, manufacturing plutonium for use in nuclear bombs. He facilitated a correspondence between the former schoolgirls and the residents of Bly whose community had been turned upside down by one of the bombs they built. The . The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. [36] Censors contacted the UP, which replied that the story had not yet been teletyped, and that only five copies of it existed; censors were able to retrieve and destroy the copies. [31] The Kalispell find was originally reported on December 14 by the Western News, a weekly published in Libby, Montana; the story later appeared in articles in the January 1, 1945, editions of Time and Newsweek magazines, as well as on the front page of the January 2 edition of The Oregonian of Portland, Oregon, before the Office of Censorship sent the memo. May 5, 2022. Each carried two incendiaries and a 33-pound antipersonnel bomb. The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, How cosmic rays helped find a tunnel in Egypt's Great Pyramid, Who first rode horses? "An awful lot of this was just 'put them up there and see what happens,' " said Dave Tewksbury, a member of the geosciences department at Hamilton College, New York. (Tribune News Service) In late 1944, the Japanese military began launching 9,000 unmanned bomb-carrying balloons across the Pacific to bombard the West Coast. Look what we found,. Marker Text During World War II the Japanese built some nine thousand hydrogen-filled, paper balloons to carry small bombs to North America, hoping to set fires and inflict casualties. Monument to balloon bomb victims near Bly, Oregon. The Navy program was subsequently consolidated under Army control, due in part to the declining availability of rubber as the war continued. The propaganda largely aimed to play up the success of the Fu-Go operation, and warned the US that the balloons were merely a prelude to something big.. J apanese weapon straight out of a pulp science-fiction magazine created a lot of problems for the U.S. government in the waning months of World War IIproblems not of national defense, but of public information and morale.. Japanese fire balloon reinflated at Moffett Field, California, after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945. "The control frame really is a piece of art. Japans latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States. In the 1940s, the Japanese were mapping out air currents by launching balloons attached with measuring instruments from the western side of Japan and picking them up on the eastern side. Vengeance Balloon Bombs in World War II. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. The balloons were supposed to blow themselves up after releasing anti-personnel and. Between 1944 and 1945, the Japanese launched an estimated 9,000 balloon bombs across the Pacific. Japan's latest weapon, the balloon bombs were intended to cause damage and spread panic in the continental United States. By then, the balloons would be expected to reach the mainland; an estimated 1,000 out of 9,000 launched made the journey. In 2014, a couple of forestry workers in Canada came across one of the unexploded balloon bombs, which still posed enough of a danger that a military bomb disposal unit had to blow it up. Fu-Go ([], fug [heiki], lit. The combined launching capacity of the sites was about 200 balloons per day, with 15,000 launches planned through March. Is Sherman dead? At some point during World War II, scientists in Japan figured out a way to harness a brisk air stream that sweeps eastward across the Pacific Ocean to dispatch silent and deadly devices to the American mainland. Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, "Japan's Secret WWII Weapon: Balloon Bombs,", "Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America,", Fu-go: The Curious History of Japan's Balloon Bomb Attack on America. On September 19, two Americans spoke with Lieutenant Colonel Terato Kunitake and a Major Inouye. Those who forget the past are liable to trip over it. They were developed in strict secrecy by the Japanese military as its naval fleet suffered a crushing blow in 1944 and could no longer strike the United States. In total, an estimated 500,000 or more Japanese civilians would be killed. On Paper Wings shows them meeting face-to-face in Bly decades later. Although balloon sightings would continue, there was a sharp decline in the number of sightings by April 1945, explainshistorian Ross Coen. US Army Those who forget the past are liable to trip over it. The program was cancelled by the Navy. Can we bring a species back from the brink? I ran up and they were all lying there dead. Lost in an instant were his wife and unborn child, alongside Eddie Engen, 13, Jay Gifford, 13, Sherman Shoemaker, 11, Dick Patzke, 14, and Joan Sis Patzke, 13. As one of the children reached down to touch it, the minister began to shout a warning but never had a chance to finish. [2] In 1933, Lieutenant General Reikichi Tada began an experimental balloon bomb program at Noborito, designated Fu-Go,[a] which proposed a hydrogen balloon 13 feet (4.0m) in diameter equipped with a time fuse and capable of delivering bombs up to 70 miles (110km). After lumbering up a one-lane gravel road, Mitchell parked his sedan and began to unload picnic baskets and fishing rods as Elsie, five months pregnant, and the children explored a knoll sloping down to a nearby creek. The weapon was a huge balloon made of four layers of impermeable mulberry paper. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. [39] The Fu-Go balloon was the first weapon system to have intercontinental range, with its flights being the longest-ranged attacks in the history of warfare at the time. Launching proved to be difficult as it took 30 minutes to an hour to prepare one balloon for flight, and required approximately thirty men. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. [41] Furthermore, much of the western U.S. received disproportionately more precipitation in 1945 than in any other year in the decade, with some areas receiving 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25cm) of precipitation more than normal. The downside to such secrecy was that American citizens didn't know what these weapons were. Mitchell was later kidnapped from a leprosarium while he and Betty were serving as missionaries in Vietnam; 57 years later his fate remains unknown). Moments . A canister from the balloon's incendiary bomb was found by a man. National and state agencies were placed on heightened alert, and forest rangers were asked to report sightings or finds. The balloons remained afloat through an elaborate mechanism that triggered a fuse when the balloon dropped in altitude, releasing a sandbag and lightening the weight enough for it to rise back up. Mitchell Recreation Area is a small picnic area located in the Fremont-Winema National Forests, Lake County, Oregon, near the unincorporated community of Bly.In it stands the Mitchell Monument, erected in 1950, which marks the only location in the United States where Americans were killed during World War II as a direct result of a Japanese balloon bomb. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. The closest the balloons came to causing major damage was on March 10, 1945, when one of the balloons struck a high tension wire on the Bonneville Power Administration in Washington. [38] In total, about 9,300 balloons were launched in the campaign (approximately 700 in November 1944, 1,200 in December, 2,000 in January 1945, 2,500 in February, 2,500 in March, and 400 in April), of which about 300 were found or observed in North America. The Winnipeg Tribune noted that one balloon bomb was found 10 miles from Detroit and another one near Grand Rapids. [24] In all, about 20 of the balloons were shot down by aircraft. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Reports of fallen balloons began to trickle in to local law enforcement with enough frequency that it was clear something unprecedented in the war had emerged that demanded explanation. hide caption. Intent on burning forests and terrorizing the American public, the attacks ultimately failed. [21], Two weeks after the discovery of the B-Type balloon off San Pedro, an A-Type balloon was found in the ocean off Kailua, Hawaii, on November 14. Tests of the design in August 1944 indicated success, with several balloons releasing radiosonde signals for up to 80 hours (the maximum time allowed by the batteries). Elsie, the unborn baby and the five children were killed almost instantly by the blast. Special thanks to Annie Patzke, Leda and Wayne Hunter, and Ilana Sol. Throughout the years, Japan's balloon bombs have continued to be discovered. [19], The first balloons were launched at 0500 on November 3, 1944. Their Proposed Airborne Carrier research and development program explored several ideas, including the initial idea of balloon bombs, according to Robert Mikesh. The Japanese were the first to mount a sustained campaign. [11] Engineers sought to make use of strong seasonal air currents discovered flowing from west to east at high altitude and speed over Japan, known now as the jet stream. Just after the war, reports came in from far and wide of balloon bomb incidents. Utilising the jet stream, Japanese forces launched these hydrogen f. This also helped prevent the Japanese from gaining any morale boost from news of a successful operation. The balloon bombs have been so overlooked that during the making of the documentary On Paper Wings, several of those who lost family members told filmmaker Ilana Sol of reactions to their unusual stories. So presumably, we may never know the extent of the damage. Just a few months ago a couple of forestry workers in Lumby, British Columbia about 250 miles north of the U.S. border happened upon a 70-year-old Japanese balloon bomb . In the "Sunset Project" initiated in early April 1945, the Fourth Air Force attempted to detect the radio transmissions emitted by tracking balloons using sites in coastal Washington; 95 suspected signals were detected, but were of little use for interception due to the relatively low percentage of balloons with transmitters, and observed fading of the signals as they approached the coast. ", So how was the situation handled? at the best online prices at eBay! All rights reserved. These so-called "fire balloons" were filled with hydrogen and carrying bombs varying from 11 to 33 pounds, and were part of an experimental Japanese military offensive. Using that knowledge, in 1944 the Japanese military made what many experts consider the first intercontinental weapon system: explosive devices attached to paper balloons that were buoyed across the ocean by a jet stream. [34] On April 22, officers investigated the nationally-syndicated comic strip Tim Tyler's Luck, which depicted a Japanese balloon being recovered by the crew of an American submarine. Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Imperial Japanese Army launched about 9,300 balloons from sites on Honshu, of which about 300 were found or observed in the U.S. and Canada, with some in Mexico. Mitchell and the families of the children lost, the unique circumstances of their devastating loss would be shared by none and known by few. Just a few months ago a couple of forestry workers in Lumby, British Columbia about 250 miles north of the U.S. border happened upon a 70-year-old Japanese balloon bomb. A self-destruct system was added; a three-minute fuse triggered by the release of the last bomb would detonate a block of picric acid and destroy the carriage, followed by an 82-minute fuse that would ignite the hydrogen and destroy the envelope. [Courtesy: National . They also learned that the campaign was designed to offset the shame of the Doolittle raid, Coen notes. "balloon bomb") deployed by Japan against the United States during World War II.A hydrogen balloon measuring 33 feet (10 m) in diameter, it carried a payload of four 11-pound (5.0 kg) incendiary devices plus one 33-pound (15 kg) anti-personnel bomb, or . This interview, and no official Japanese documents, was to be the only source of information regarding the objectives of the Fu-Go program for the US authorities, explains Coen. Lieutenant Commander Kiyoshi Tanaka headed an group that developed a 30-foot (9.1m) rubberized silk balloon, designated the B-Type (in contrast to the Army's A-Type). The campaign was halted, with no intention to revive it when winds restarted in late 1945. Location. These animals can sniff it out. On Nov. 3, 1944, the first of more than 9,000 bomb-bearing balloons were released. Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Geological Engineering. A one-hour activating fuse for the altimeters was ignited at launch, allowing the balloon time to ascend above these two thresholds. When 13-year-old Joan Patzke spied a strange white canvas on the forest floor, the curious girl summoned the rest of the group. That goal was stymied in part by the fact that they arrived during the rainy season, but had this goal been realized, these balloons may have been much more than an overlooked episode in a vast war. [8] According to U.S. interviews with Japanese officials after the war, the balloon bomb campaign was undertaken "almost exclusively for home propaganda purposes", with the Army having little expectation of effectiveness. Japanese Balloon Attack Almost Interrupted Building First Atomic. According to the two men interviewed, the Army had stopped the balloon program because of a lack of resources. Japan launched more than 9,300 paper balloons carrying bombs over the Pacific Ocean from late 1944 to early 1945 to attack the United States, including Iowa, in an attempt to instill fear and terror during World War II. Japans bizarre WWII plan to bomb the continental U.S. by high-altitude balloons claimed its first and only victimsan Oregon church group in 1945. Copyright 2022 by the Atomic Heritage Foundation. "It would have been far too dangerous to move it. "[30] The Imperial Army only ever learned of the balloon at Kalispell, from an article in the Chinese newspaper Ta Kung Pao on December 18, 1944. In December 1944, a military intelligence project began evaluating the weapon by collecting the various evidence from the balloon sites. Reverend Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife Elsie (age 26) drove up Gearhart Mountain that day with five of their Sunday school students for a picnic. I had been walking around on that stuff and they had not told me! After American aircraft bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities during the Doolittle Raid of 1942, the Japanese military command wanted to retaliate in kind but its manned aircraft were incapable of reaching the West Coast of the United States. The balloons were carried by high-altitude and high-speed currents over the Pacific Ocean, now known as the jet stream, and used a sophisticated ballast system to control altitude. The Japanese harnessed air currents to create the first intercontinental weaponsballoons. hide caption. Privacy Statement [19] The Army estimated that 10 percent of the balloons would survive the journey across the Pacific Ocean. What the Japanese military lacked in technology, however, it made up for in geography. In a snow-covered, heavily forested area southwest of the Montana town, two woodchoppers found a balloon with Japanese markings on it. Once aloft, some of the ingeniously designed incendiary devices weighted by expendable sandbags floated from Japan to the U.S. mainland and into Canada. The silence meant that for decades, grieving families were sometimes met with skepticism or outright disbelief. Archie and Elsye had taken them on a Sunday school picnic up on Gearhart Mountain. Another bizarre explanation is that it was a balloon bomb launched by the Japanese. [50] Many war museums in the U.S. and Canada exhibit Fu-Go fragments, including the National Air and Space Museum and Canadian War Museum.[51]. Several hundred were spotted in the air or found on the ground in the U.S. To keep the Japanese from tracking the success of their treachery, the U.S. government asked American news organizations to refrain from reporting on the balloon bombs.