Editing Fu-Go balloon bomb (section)

== Offensive and defenses==
[[File:Fu-Go balloon bomb launch sites and following stations.jpg|thumb|Fu-Go launching sites and flight-following stations on [[Honshu]]]]

A balloon launch organization of three battalions was formed. The first battalion included headquarters and three squadrons, totaling 1,500 men, at nine launch stations at [[Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki|Otsu]] in [[Ibaraki Prefecture]]. The second battalion of 700 men in three squadrons operated six launch stations at [[Ichinomiya, Chiba]], and the third battalion of 600 men in two squadrons operated six launch stations at [[Iwaki, Fukushima|Nakoso, Fukushima]]. The Otsu site featured its own hydrogen plant, while the second and third battalions used hydrogen gas transported from factories around Tokyo. The combined launching capacity of the sites was about 200 balloons per day, with 15,000 launches planned through March.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=16–17, 22–23}} The Army estimated that only 10 percent of the balloons would survive the journey across the Pacific Ocean.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=25}}

Each launch pad consisted of anchor screws drilled into the ground in a circle the same diameter as the balloons. After anchoring an envelope, hoses were used to fill it with {{convert|8,100|cuft|m3}} of hydrogen while it was tied down with guide ropes and detached from the anchors. The carriage was attached with shroud lines, and the guide ropes were untied. Each launch required a crew of 30 men and took between 30 minutes and one hour, depending on the presence of surface winds.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=|pp=22–23, 63}} The best time for launches was after a [[High-pressure area|high-pressure front]] had passed, and wind conditions were best before the onshore breezes at sunrise. Suitable wind conditions were only expected for three to five days a week, for a total of about fifty days during the winter period of maximum jet stream velocity.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=22–23}}

The first balloons were launched on November 3, 1944. Some balloons in each of the launches carried radiosonde equipment instead of bombs, and were tracked by [[direction finding]] stations to follow their progress.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=21,24}} Two weeks after the discovery of the B-Type balloon off San Pedro, an A-Type balloon was found in the ocean off [[Kailua, Hawaii]], on November 14.{{efn|A second B-Type balloon was found near [[Yerington, Nevada]], on November 9, 1944, but was not reported until June 1945.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=222}}}} More were found near [[Thermopolis, Wyoming]], on December 6 (with an explosion heard by witnesses, and a crater later located) and near [[Kalispell, Montana]], on December 11, followed by finds near [[Marshall, Alaska|Marshall]] and [[Holy Cross, Alaska]], and [[Estacada, Oregon]], later in the month.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=28}} Authorities were placed on heightened alert, and forest rangers were ordered to report landings and recoveries. The balloons continued to be discovered across North America, with sightings and partial or full recoveries in [[Territory of Alaska|Alaska]], [[Arizona]], [[California]], [[Colorado]], [[Territory of Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[Idaho]], [[Iowa]], [[Kansas]], [[Michigan]] (where an incendiary bomb was found at [[Farmington, Michigan|Farmington]] in the easternmost incident), [[Montana]], [[Nebraska]], [[Nevada]], [[North Dakota]], [[Oregon]], [[South Dakota]], [[Texas]], [[Utah]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], and [[Wyoming]]; in Canada in [[Alberta]], [[British Columbia]], [[Manitoba]], [[Saskatchewan]], and the [[Northwest Territories|Northwest]] and [[Yukon Territories]]; in Mexico in [[Territory of Baja California Norte|Baja California Norte]] and [[Sonora]]; and at sea.{{efn|On March 13, 1945, two balloons returned to Japan, landing near [[Hakodate, Hokkaido]], and in [[Akita Prefecture]]. Both fell in snow and caused no damage.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=16}}}}{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=69–77}} By August 1945, the U.S. Army had recorded 285 balloon incidents (28 by January, 54 in February, 114 in March, 42 in April, 16 in May, 17 in June, and 14 in July).{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=77}}

<gallery mode="packed">
File:342-FH-3B23422 (18161219731).jpg|Balloon found near [[Alturas, California]], on January 10, 1945, reinflated at [[Moffett Field]]
File:342-FH-3B23424 (18156536642).jpg|Balloon found near [[Bigelow, Kansas]], on February 23, 1945
File:342-FH-3B23423 (17973857089).jpg|Balloon found near [[Nixon, Nevada]], on March 29, 1945
FIle:342-FH-3B23432 (18160047105).jpg|Aerial photograph of a balloon taken from an American plane
File:342-FH-3B23437 (18133550866).jpg|Another aerial photograph of a balloon
</gallery>

Most U.S. defense plans were only fully implemented after the offensive ended in April 1945. In response to the threat of wildfires in the [[Pacific Northwest]] during the summer months, the Army's [[Western Defense Command]] (WDC), [[Fourth Air Force]], and [[Army Service Forces#Service Commands|Ninth Service Command]] organized the "Firefly Project" with [[Stinson L-5 Sentinel]] and [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]] aircraft and 2,700 troops, including 200 paratroopers from the all-black [[555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States)|555th Parachute Infantry Battalion]], who were deployed in 36 firefighting missions between May and October 1945.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=29}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bradsher |first=Greg |last2=Naylor |first2=Sylvia |date=2015-02-12 |title=Firefly Project and the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion ("Smoke Jumpers") |url=https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2015/02/12/firefly-project-and-the-555th-parachute-infantry-battalion-smoke-jumpers/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website= |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |language= |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328022321/https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2015/02/12/firefly-project-and-the-555th-parachute-infantry-battalion-smoke-jumpers/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Army used the [[United States Forest Service|U.S. Forest Service]] as a proxy agency, unifying fire suppression communications between federal and state agencies and modernizing the service through an influx of military personnel, equipment, and tactics.<ref name=Karns>{{Cite journal |last=Karns |first=Jameson |date=March 2017 |title=A Fire Management Assessment of Fugo |url=https://www.frames.gov/catalog/25973 |journal=Fire Management Today |volume=57 |pages=53–57 |access-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210201947/https://www.frames.gov/catalog/25973 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the WDC's "Lightning Project", health and agricultural officers, veterinarians, and [[4-H]] clubs were instructed to report any new diseases of crops or livestock caused by potential [[biological warfare]]. Stocks of decontamination chemicals, ultimately unused, were shipped to key points in the western states.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=29}} Although biological warfare had been a concern for months, the WDC's plan was not formalized and fully implemented until July 1945. A sub-section of the project, "Arrow", provided for rapid air transportation of all balloon remains to the Technical Air Intelligence Center laboratory in [[Washington, D.C.]], for biological analysis.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=137–139}} A U.S. investigation after the war concluded there had not been plans for chemical or biological payloads.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=191–193}}[[File:Japanese fire balloon shotdown gun.jpg|thumb|Balloon shot down by [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightning]] fighters at [[Attu Island|Attu]], [[Aleutian Islands]], Alaska, on April 13, 1945]]

[[Army Air Forces]] and Navy fighter planes were scrambled on several occasions to intercept balloons, but they had little success due to inaccurate sighting reports, bad weather, and the very high altitude at which they traveled.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=29}} In all, only about 20 balloons were shot down by U.S. and Canadian pilots.{{efn|This figure includes 11 balloons shot down by the [[U.S. Air Force]] over the [[Aleutian Islands]] in Alaska: over [[Shemya]] on January 25, 1945; [[Attu Island|Attu]] on April 12; and nine more over Attu on April 13. Four balloons were shot down over the continental U.S.: over [[North Bend, Oregon]], on February 22; [[Calistoga, California]], on February 23; [[Reno, Nevada]], on March 22; and [[Imperial Valley, California]], on March 28. The [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] shot down balloons over [[Sumas, Washington]], on February 21 and [[Galiano Island]] in British Columbia on March 10.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=222–245}}}}{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=222–245}} Attempts to track the radiosonde balloons produced 95 suspected signals, but they were of little use due to the very low proportion of balloons with transmitters, and observed fading of signals as they approached. Experiments on recovered balloons in February 1945 to determine their radar reflectivity were unsuccessful.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=32–34}} In the "Sunset Project", initiated in early April and fully operational by June, the Fourth Air Force attempted to detect balloons with search radars at [[ground-controlled interception]] sites in coastal Washington, but the project detected nothing and was cancelled in early August.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=34–36}} 

Few American officials believed at first that the balloons could have come directly from Japan. Early U.S. theories speculated that they were launched from [[German prisoners of war in the United States|German prisoner of war camps]] or from [[Japanese American internment|Japanese-American internment centers]]. After bombs of Japanese origin were found, it was believed that the balloons were launched from coastal submarines.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=28}} Statistical analysis of valve serial numbers suggested that tens of thousands of balloons had been produced.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=192}} The mineral and [[diatom]] composition of sand from the sandbags was studied by the [[Military Geology Unit]] of the [[United States Geological Survey]], which assessed its origin as [[Shiogama|Shiogama, Miyagi]], or less likely, Ichinomiya, Chiba, only the latter being correct. [[Aerial reconnaissance]] of Shiogama in May 1945 showed what was mistakenly interpreted as inflated balloons and a possible launch area at the beach.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|pp=34–36}}

===Censorship campaign===
On January 4, 1945, the U.S. [[Office of Censorship]] sent a confidential memo to newspaper editors and radio broadcasters asking that they give no publicity to balloon incidents; this proved highly effective, with the agency sending another memo three months later stating that cooperation had been "excellent" and that "there is no question that your refusal to publish or broadcast information about these balloons has baffled the Japanese, annoyed and hindered them, and has been an important contribution to security."{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=162, 169}} The Imperial Army only ever learned of the balloon at Kalispell from an article in the Chinese newspaper ''[[Ta Kung Pao]]'' on December 18, 1944.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=83}} The Kalispell find was originally reported on December 14 by the ''Western News'', a weekly published in [[Libby, Montana]]; the story later appeared in articles in the January 1, 1945, editions of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' and ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazines, as well as on the front page of the January 2 edition of ''[[The Oregonian]]'' of [[Portland, Oregon]], before the Office of Censorship sent the memo.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=68}} Starting in mid-February 1945, Japanese propaganda broadcasts falsely announced numerous fires and a panicked American public, further claiming casualties in the hundreds or thousands.{{sfn|Mikesh|1973|p=37}}

One breach occurred in late February, when Representative [[Arthur L. Miller]] mentioned the balloons in a weekly column he sent to all 91 newspapers in his Nebraska district, which stated in part: "As a final act of desperation, it is believed that the Japs may release fire balloons aimed at our great forests in the northwest". In response, intelligence officers at the [[Seventh Service Command]] in Omaha contacted the editors at all 91 papers, requesting censorship; this was largely successful, with only two papers printing the column.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=162}} In late March, the [[United Press International|United Press]] (UP) wrote a detailed article on the balloons intended for its national distributors; the Army officer who reported the breach commented that it included "a lot of mechanical detail on the thing, in addition to being a hell of a scare story".{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=167}} Censors contacted the UP, which replied that the article had not yet been [[Teletype|teletyped]]; all five copies were retrieved and destroyed. Investigators determined the information originated from a briefing to Colorado state legislators, which had been leaked in an open session.{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=168}} 

In late April, censors investigated the nationally-syndicated comic strip ''[[Tim Tyler's Luck]]'' by [[Lyman Young]], which depicted a Japanese balloon recovered by the crew of an U.S. submarine. In subsequent weeks, its protagonists fought monster vines which sprang from seeds the balloon was carrying, created by an evil Japanese horticulturalist. A few weeks later, the comic strip ''[[The Adventures of Smilin' Jack|Smilin' Jack]]'' by [[Zack Mosley]] depicted a plane crashing into a Japanese balloon, which exploded and started a fire upon falling to the ground.{{sfn|Coen|2014|pp=164–167}} In both cases, the Office of Censorship deemed it unnecessary to censor the [[Sunday comics]].{{sfn|Coen|2014|p=167}}