The Japanese had many unique ways of attacking enemies in World War II. One of the most entertaining attempts at creating "experimental weaponry" were known as Fire Balloons, or Balloon Bombs.
The idea was simple-utilizing the jet stream that ran through the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese inflated Hydrogen-filled balloons carrying incendiary and antipersonnel bombs that were designed to create chaos when they exploded over American cities, forests and farmlands (including Canada as well!)
Despite being an incredible idea with high expectations, the balloon bombs were relative ineffective as weapons and were used only a few times to attack North America. Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Japanese launched over nine thousand fire balloons, with an estimated success rate of reaching the US & Canada coming in at a whopping 3.3 percent! Around 300 allons were found or observed, killing six people and causing minimal damage to their targets.
Sadly enough the six people killed by a balloon bomb were five children and a woman. A 13-year-old girl attempted to pull a balloon from a tree during a church group picnic in Oregon when the bomb exploded, killing the pastors wife and five local children that had accompanied them on the outing.
Dangers of balloon bombs still may exist today. Hundreds of the balloons were never found and are still constituted as unexploded ordnance!
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