Japanese Balloon Bombs reached Blaine County during World War II

A friend shared a copy of a map showing nearly 30 known locations where Japanese Balloon Bombs, launched in Japan and carried across the Pacific Ocean by the jet stream, landed in Montana toward the end of World War II. Woodcutters near Kalispell were the first to see a balloon bomb in Montana. That was December, 1944. The remaining bombs found and identified in Montana were discovered in the spring of 1945. Two of those bombs were found in Blaine County. One was found east of Turner and one was found on the Fort Belknap Reservation.

I soon learned one of the reasons these sightings were not widely known was an agreement by news sources, requested by the FBI, not to report further sightings. Here's some information about the infamous Japanese "Fu-Go" (Windship Weapons) Balloon Bombs.

The Japanese launched an estimated 9,000 balloon bombs from November, 1944 through April, 1945

Many historians believe the balloon bombs were in retaliation for earlier bombing raids directed by the USA's Colonel Jimmy Doolittle on major Japanese cities. Lacking the capacity to fly bombers to counter attack the U.S. mainland, the Japanese military devised huge, hydrogen-filled, paper balloons carrying anti-personnel bombs and incendiary devices. Japanese strategists hoped the bombs would start forest fires and kill civilians, both outcomes taking resources away from the war effort. The bombs were also intended as psychological weapons, creating and spreading confusion and panic. Turns out the balloon bombs failed their purpose.

The balloons (see diagram), made of six hundred pieces of laminated paper, were assembled by Japanese school girls. The 35-foot diameter balloons could carry approximately 800 pounds of payload-ballast, incendiary devices and anti-personnel bombs. The ballast and bombs were on a ring attached by multiple 30-foot-long shroud lines to the balloon itself.

Once launched the balloons were caught up in the jet stream winds at 20,000-40,000 feet and moved west over the Pacific Ocean at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. An onboard barometer could detect a loss of altitude and jettison one or more bags of the sand ballast allowing the balloon to regain altitude. The balloons could make the 6,200 miles trip in approximately sixty hours. Balloons were first sighted over the Pacific Ocean in late 1944. It's believed that some 9,000 balloons were launched during a five-month period. Though as many as 1,000 could have reached North America, there were only about 285 reported landings during late 1944 and early 1945.

The first reported sighting of a balloon bomb in North America was by a group of coal miners coming out of a mine in Thermopolis, Wyoming on December 8, 1944. Interestingly the second balloon was found by some woodcutters about 20 miles southwest of Kalispell, Montana. That balloon was brought in to town and believed to have been viewed at a public display by about 500 people.

Libby's (Montana) newspaper, The Western News, reported the finding of the balloon bomb on December 12, 1944. A few other regional newspapers ran the story and eventually the story was picked up by Time and Newsweek. In January, 1945 the U.S. Office of Censorship asked news outlets to voluntarily withhold stories about the bombs to minimize public panic and confuse the Japanese about the success of the balloon bombs. Some commentators believed that with virtually everyone having some friend or relative in the war, news reports of future incidents were squelched. The furthest east any balloon bomb was ever found in the U.S. was in Michigan.

Remarkably there were minimal fatalities from the balloon bombs. The only deaths attributable to a balloon bomb occurred near Bly, Oregon. A local pastor and his wife had taken some Sunday School kids on a fishing trip in to the mountains. After the pastor parked the car, he was walking back to their fishing spot and saw the kids pulling on what looked like a balloon on the ground. The balloon exploded and killed the pastor's wife and all four of the kids in the class.

The balloon bombs that made it to Blaine County

At the time the balloon bombs were being launched, late 1944 and early 1945, there were about 30 reported incidents in Montana of which two were recorded in Blaine County. A balloon bomb was found on February 22, 1945 "in the Hays area." George Horse Capture, Jr. said his maternal grandmother talked about this incident when he was a little boy. Per George, "As I recall she said it was found in the area of the Agency, where US 2 and MT 66 meet."

A month later, east of the community of Turner, a balloon bomb was found in a farmer's field on March 27, 1945. Russ Skones, a first grader at the Turner school at the time, said he remembered being taken to the field to see the balloon. "It looked like a big balloon," Russ said, "and as a seven-year-old that's about all I remember." Later a military truck came to take the balloon away. There were no public displays like happened earlier in Kalispell.

I was able to find a few additional random mentions of other incidents involving balloon bombs in Montana. A balloon was reported drifting east of Bigfork in February, 1945 and paper fragments were found floating in Flathead Lake about the same time. A month later paper fragments of a bomb were found near Coram, east of Columbia Falls. About two years later, after the war, an unexploded balloon bomb was reportedly found hanging in a tree near Basin (between Butte and Helena) in 1947.

Are there still balloon bombs unaccounted for?

The short answer is 'yes.' With over 9,000 launched and only 300 incidents recorded, there are still likely bombs not yet discovered. Are they a hazard? They could be though the balloons and shroud strings are long gone with only the metal pieces surviving. The most recent reported discovery of an undetonated bomb was in 2014 in British Columbia. There the main part of the bomb was driven into the ground with only random metal pieces protruding and spread around on the ground. A bomb squad detonated the bomb where it was found.

No doubt there are still remnants of these bombs around and undiscovered. Law enforcement and safety specialists recommend calling for professional help if what is thought to be the remains of a balloon bomb are discovered. A 911 call would start the process to summon help. And keep the curious away from the site.

For additional information about Japanese Balloon Bombs in Montana, see Butch Larcombe's article 'One of the Most Bizarre and Obscure Chapters of Modern Warfare' in the June 19, 2023 issue of Flathead Living and 'Terror Floated over Montana, 1944-45.' By Larry Tanglen in Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Montana Historical Society), 2002-12, volume 52.