ABSTRACT
Between November 1944 and April 1945, in a desperate effort to cause panic and weaken the US war effort, Japan launched 9,300 giant bomb-laden paper balloons, known as Fugos, via the jet stream to kill Americans, start forest fires, and destroy buildings. This unusual case of the “balloon bombs” highlights several traits of power this chapter considers. Japan developed these bizarre weapons to gain an advantage over the militarily superior United States, and the United States was unable to provide an adequate defense. The US Air Force established a balloon early-warning line off the coast of Washington State, but failed to destroy the balloons. By the end of July 1945 some 230 of the balloons had been recovered, mainly in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, and Montana, most of the remainder having been lost at sea. The Japanese effort failed, and the Fugos only briefly gained national attention in May 1945, when members of a Sunday school class picnic – five children and one chaperone – were killed outside of Bly, Oregon when they moved one and it exploded, causing the only casualties in the continental US during World War II. Fearing the very panic the Japanese hoped to provoke, US officials only reported the Japanese balloon bomb project publicly after this incident to warn people to avoid balloon debris.1 Thus, actors are creative in their efforts to accumulate and use power, but rarely can they be assured of the effect their power will have on others.
