While not an "invasion from another world" in the science fiction sense, the event was perceived by terrified civilians as exactly that: a full-scale assault on the American mainland. By February 1942, the American West Coast was in a state of high alert. Following Pearl Harbor, a submarine had shelled an oil refinery near Santa Barbara. Blackouts were routine, and rumors of Japanese invasion fleets circulated widely. This paranoid atmosphere set the perfect stage for mass panic.
In the annals of military history and UFO lore, few events blur the line between wartime hysteria and unexplained aerial phenomena quite like the Battle of Los Angeles . Occurring in the dark early morning hours of February 25, 1942—just 11 weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor—this incident saw the U.S. military unleash a massive anti-aircraft barrage against an unidentified object (or objects) over the skies of Southern California. Invasion Del Mundo-Batalla Los Angeles.-Battle-...
From 3:06 AM to 4:14 AM, the U.S. Army’s 37th Coast Artillery Brigade fired over of 3-inch and 37mm anti-aircraft shells into the night sky. Searchlights crisscrossed the clouds, converging on the mysterious target. While not an "invasion from another world" in