Many documentaries have been made on it, countless movies have been based on it – even Steven Spielberg satirised it – and thousands of people witnessed the actual events unfold before their eyes. The “Battle of Los Angeles” (sometimes referred to as “The Great Los Angeles Air Raid”) took place over the City of Angeles in the early hours of 25th February 1942, but we still don’t know the full truth behind the explosive events.

The incident happened while the Pearl Harbour attacks of December 1941 were still very fresh in people’s minds – particularly on the west coast of the United States. To say the country was “jumpy” would have been a huge understatement. As war raged in Europe – a war that the United States was about to become heavily involved in – nobody seemed to know where the enemy would strike next, and from where.

So when the up and coming metropolis of Los Angeles was plunged into absolute darkness due to the approach of a strange craft moving in from the Pacific Ocean, the panic that followed is very understandable. As is perhaps the debate, investigations, and research that has taken place since.

That something very strange happened that evening is beyond doubt. What exactly it was that sent the military into a firing frenzy, and turned the town’s citizens into frightened and helpless onlookers is a question still to be fully answered.

Los Angeles Awakes To Sirens And Gunfire

Just after 3am residents of Los Angeles were awoken to the sound of air sirens and the rattle of automatic gunfire. The whole city was in complete darkness aside from the flashes of guns being discharged, and the search lights that roamed the night sky. The blackout lasted until just after 7am, and by the time the events were over, over two thousand rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition had been fired.

It seemed to most that the firing was aimed at something in the sky, although no damage appeared to have been inflicted on the strange object. The bursts of gunfire went on for around an hour before the seemingly impenetrable object calmly made its way from the Santa Monica area and disappeared. Many witnesses also spoke of seeing and hearing American fighter planes in the night sky, but the US military refutes that any of their aircraft were airborne, and that their response was from the ground only.

Several fatalities were recorded that evening – all civilians – with deaths ranging from heart attacks, car crashes on the blacked out roads, and even falling shrapnel.

There was very little mention of the incident in the press and the media at the time. Although it was reported on initially, very few witness statements were considered credible, despite them being best placed to tell the world what they saw.

Or perhaps still fresh in the government’s minds was the reaction of many people to the 1938 fictional radio broadcast “The War of the Worlds” that resulted in a mass panic, convincing thousands of American citizens they were being attacked by alien invaders.

If the object that was engaged by the American military in February 1942 was an unknown craft, potentially from another world no less, would the announcement of this as cold fact induce a similar panic in the American people? Particularly given that their best efforts were not enough to bring the strange object crashing to the ground in defeat.

The video below is a short clip of the original news footage of the time.

Aftermath and Witness Statements

Although the eventual official story was that the object was nothing more than a barrage balloon that had come loose, many people profoundly disagreed with this version of events, particularly those who believe they saw the object close up on the night in question.

One of those witnesses, a volunteer air raid warden named Katie, stated to Jeff Rense that after being awoken by a telephone call from the air raid supervisor, she looked out of her window and saw a huge object “hovering” over her house. She claimed she had a clear view of the craft and that it shone a “lovely pale orange” as it remained motionless in the night sky.

She also recalled seeing groups of American fighter planes attempt to engage the object but each time they had to retreat, stating, “They were shooting at it, but it didn’t seem to matter!”

Another witness, retired anthropology professor, C. Scott Littleton, was thirteen years old at the time of the incident. His father was an air raid warden and was convinced the actions were real. Littleton claimed that the craft he saw was a distinct oval shape “like a lozenge”, and that he witnessed anti-aircraft shells explode “all around it!”

Littleton, like Katie, also stated that he witnessed American fighter planes following the strange object as it made its way towards Redondo Beach before vanishing from view.

He also casts his doubts on the official explanation of it being a balloon that came loose and floated to the Santa Monica area. According to the retired professor, the only area that housed such floating tethered balloons was in El Segundo. This means that it would have had to have floated north to the Santa Monica Mountains where the object was observed, and then moved in a completely different direction to where it was last seen. Not the normal movements of a balloon by any stretch of the imagination.

Could There Be A Connection To Mount Shasta?

According to US Navy radar reports, a craft was spotted moving into the Santa Monica Mountains from the Pacific in the hours before the sightings and subsequent battle. Just north from where it was first picked up is Mount Shasta – an area regarded as a UFO hotspot. It is also rife with strange reports and stories, with some people even claiming a top secret alien base is hidden within it.

Strange lights and glowing orbs are often seen and reported in the area, and have been for hundreds of years. Native American tribes indigenous to the area believe that inside the great mountain is a network of caves that lead to an “inner city” where advanced “reptilian” creatures live. Other local people have told stories of “robed humanoid” people, who are very tall and live inside the mountain, only occasionally venturing out in to the wider world.

Perhaps one of the strangest stories concerning Mount Shasta is that of a three year old boy who went missing for several hours while camping with his grandparents near the infamous mountain in early 2013. The young boy was found safe and well and ultimately he had come to no harm. However several weeks after the incident, he began to speak about what had happened.

He stated that “the other Grandma” – who was actually a robot – had taken him into a secret cave that was inside the mountain. According to the young boy, the cave was full of guns and spiders. He then went on to say that “the other Grandma” said he was really from outer space and that he had been placed in his “Mom’s tummy” by aliens.

Even stranger was that the boy’s grandma had already had an unusual encounter a year earlier, almost in the same spot where her grandson had gone missing. While camping with her friend, both women awoke to discover they had a strange bite mark on the back of their necks. They also both spoke of having an intense memory of being watched by a pair of “red eyes” throughout the night – like a spider’s eyes!

The video below shows what some believe to be a UFO disappearing into a strange vortex over Mount Shasta in 2013.

Other Worldly Craft, Or Military Training Exorcise?

Although Mount Shasta is around six-hundred miles away from where the Battle of Los Angeles took place, given that the strange craft only appeared on radar when it was almost over the city, it is not unreasonable to theorise that it came from nearer to the “battle scene” than some might think. And if there is a secret base in the bowels of Mount Shasta, might the military be involved?

While witness statements of that evening in 1942 essentially describe what we would recognise as a UFO today, is it possible that the strange craft was actually part of a US military training exorcise?

We can pretty much rule out it being a Japanese craft. Aside from the fact that their records make no mention of such a mission, it is probable that they would have attacked as opposed to have simply observed if they were in such a position that evening.

Perhaps it is also worth bearing in mind that a little over a decade later and only a short distance away in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas, the military conducted many nuclear tests. Although they did inform the public to be aware of these tests, there was debate originally as to whether or not they should be informed at all. Might it be that the events in Los Angeles in early 1942 – assuming they were an undeclared military exorcise – demonstrated how easily panic can ensue?

Or might the military’s response that night have been genuine, and the craft hovering above them was regarded – rightly or wrongly – as a real threat. Assuming for a moment this was the case, perhaps it would have been too embarrassing for the United States military to admit their armed forces proved to be of no use against the invading craft.

It seems though, the real error is the treatment of (at the time) the many witnesses by the media. Many of their statements were disregarded and not reported. Consequently these are now not on record and make research and investigation into the incident harder. Perhaps also at the same time, this course of action (or lack thereof) hands the US military a golden opportunity to shape the history of this event how it sees fit.

The video below features several short documentaries that look into the mysterious events of The Battle of Los Angeles in a little more detail.