The Battle of Los Angeles was a wartime air-defense event in which U.S. Army coastal artillery fired thousands of anti-aircraft rounds at unidentified objects over the city, less than three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
What happened during the Battle of Los Angeles?
In the early hours of February 25, 1942, radar detected an unidentified target, air-raid sirens sounded, and a citywide blackout was ordered. Anti-aircraft batteries opened fire, expending more than 1,400 rounds over roughly an hour. Searchlights converged on slow-moving objects in the sky, photographed by the Los Angeles Times.
What was the explanation?
No enemy aircraft were downed and no bombs were dropped. The Secretary of the Navy called it a false alarm caused by "war nerves," while the Army suggested up to fifteen unidentified aircraft may have been present. A weather balloon was later proposed as a trigger.
Why is it considered a UAP case?
The famous searchlight photograph and the intensity of the barrage against objects that absorbed direct fire without being destroyed have kept the event in UAP discussions as an early, well-documented mass sighting.