The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as The Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given to the event which took place from late February 24 to early February 25, 1942 over Los Angeles, California.
The incident occurred less than three months after the United States entered World War II as a result of the Japanese Imperial Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after reported Japanese submarine attacks off the coast of Santa Barbara.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Los Angeles County on that night. A total blackout was ordered and thousands of air raid wardens were summoned to their positions. At 3:16 a.m. the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing 12.8-pound anti-aircraft shells into the air at reported aircraft above Los Angeles; over 1,400 shells would eventually be fired. Pilots of the 4th Interceptor Command were alerted but their aircraft remained grounded.
The artillery fire continued sporadically until 4:14 a.m. The "all clear" was sounded and the blackout order lifted at 7:21 a.m.
Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, the Secretary of the Navy called the incident a "false alarm." Newspapers of the time published a number of sensational reports and speculations of a cover-up.
A small number of modern-day theorists have suggested the targets were extraterrestrial spacecraft. When documenting the incident in 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the event to a case of "war nerves" likely triggered by a lost weather balloon and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries
The first picture above will be my painting, while the below is the only known photo of the actual event.
