WWII Japanese 'balloon bomb' part found

[Kyt]

WWII 'balloon bomb' part found | The Japan Times Online

A key component of a "balloon bomb," a secret weapon developed and used by a desperate Imperial Japanese Army to attack the U.S. mainland during World War II, was recently discovered and is to be donated to a national science museum in Ueno Ward, Tokyo.

The part, an altitude maintenance device, is now owned by Seiko Sakurai, a 66-year-old former social studies teacher at a school in Yokohama.

Most parts of the weapon, 9,000 of which were launched, except for the balloons themselves, have been discovered. The planned donation will give precious clues into understanding a weapon produced in the closing days of the war, experts say.

Balloon bombs were designed to fly about 10,000 km to the U.S. mainland, riding the jet stream over 40 to 50 hours.

The helium-filled balloons, measuring 10 meters in diameter, carried a bomb that was designed to automatically drop after the aircraft rode the air currents for more than two days and two nights.

More than 9,000 were produced and launched between fall 1944 and April 1945.

The balloons reached various parts of America, including Detroit and Mexico.

Records shows that the only damage the weapon caused was six people killed in Oregon.

Sakurai became interested in the weapon around 10 years ago after having graduates of her school fill out a questionnaire about their war experiences.

She visited a number of people who were involved in development of the bomb, learning that a Toshiba plant in Kawasaki and an engineering school in Tokyo produced the weapon.

In November 2000, she obtained the core element from a man who graduated from the engineering school who was living in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

"An operation to attack the U.S. with balloons may seem odd, but the parties involved in the project were serious," Sakurai said. "I hope this provides people an opportunity to think about the grievous (nature of) war."

[Kyt]

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