CLASSIC: The Attack of the Japanese Balloon Bombs

Summary

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Ridiculous History – CLASSIC: The Attack of the Japanese Balloon Bombs

Podcast: Ridiculous History
Hosts: Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown
Release Date: July 4, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Ben and Noel explore one of the most bizarre and little-known attacks on American soil during World War II: the Japanese Fugo balloon bomb campaign. The hosts trace the origins, technology, and historical fallout of this audacious attempt to unleash chaos in the US via unmanned, explosive-laden balloons. Mixing humor with their usual historical deep-dive, Ben and Noel reveal both the ridiculous ingenuity and the tragic consequences of the world’s only intercontinental bomb campaign by balloon.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Balloon Fascination and Segue (04:20–06:43)

• The hosts open with their own fascination (and anxiety) about balloons and hot air ballooning.
• Ben proposes the creation of “Ridiculous History, the podcast of the air.”
• Transition: Not all balloon stories are about fun—sometimes, they carry a darker payload.

The Japanese Balloon Bombs: Origins and Technology (06:43–12:42)

• First US Air Attack Misconceptions: Most people think Pearl Harbor was the only WWII air attack on US soil, but the Fugo campaign was a second, lesser-known attack (06:43).
• Birth of the Fugo Bombs: Japanese idea originated as early as 1933 by the Military Scientific Laboratory (07:51).
  • Other wild weapon proposals included a “death ray,” wire-controlled tanks, and rocket-propelled bombs (07:51–09:55).
• Fugo Balloon Design:
  • 33 feet in diameter, capable of lifting 1,000 lbs (10:32).
  • Carried 33-pound anti-personnel fragmentation bombs and incendiaries (10:38).
  • Handmade from rubberized silk or paper, glued together—often by Japanese schoolgirls (12:11).
  • Technology included a barometric altitude valve to control ascent/descent (11:08).
  • Quantity-over-quality tactic: ~9,000 launched, only about 342 confirmed reaching the US (11:48).

“The goal here was kind of a spaghetti at the wall approach. They decided that quantity was a quality all its own.”
— Ben (11:48)

How the Balloons Worked—And Failed (12:42–14:18)

• The balloons were unmanned, meant to travel ~60 hours on the winter jet stream toward North America (12:42).
• Launched on Emperor Meiji’s birthday.
• Flight preparation: Each balloon took 30–60 minutes to assemble.
• Most didn’t make it, but some went as far as Nebraska, Michigan, Alaska, and even Hawaii (12:42, 30:26).
• Most failed to detonate or caused little/no damage.

“They were spotted. They were described as looking like clusters of jellyfish in the sky.”
— Noel (13:06)

American Reaction and Secrecy (14:18–24:39)

• Initial US military confusion: suspected biological weapons or even domestic saboteurs (21:15).
• Discovery that sand used for ballast matched Japanese beaches, confirming origin (21:50).
• Main threat: potential to ignite forest fires in the dry Pacific Northwest (22:27).
• Secretive US government/military response: No warnings issued to the public to avoid encouraging the Japanese or causing panic.
  • Office of Censorship told media not to report balloon sightings (23:27).
  • This secrecy led to confusion and speculation among Americans.

The Tragedy at Bligh, Oregon – The Only Fatalities (24:39–26:46)

• The only fatalities on US soil during WWII due to enemy action: Sunday School picnic, Bligh, Oregon (May 5, 1945).
  • Reverend Archie Mitchell’s wife, Elsie, and five children were killed when they encountered unexploded balloon debris (25:28).
  • Incident finally prompted US military to publicize the threat and caution the population.

“This tragedy is what caused the US Military to finally break its silence… and so they began issuing warnings not to tamper with anything that looked remotely like one of these balloons.”
— Ben (26:13)

Near-Misses and Lingering Dangers (28:06–32:28)

• Some balloon bombs hit electricity transmission lines and caused a blackout at the Hanford nuclear facility’s power supply site (Bonneville Power Administration), but major disasters were averted (28:06–29:13).
  • Memorable story: “I threw a brick at it… started tromping all over that thing… They sent a bus up with all the specially trained personnel… I had been walking around on that stuff, and they had not told me that they were afraid of bacterial warfare.” —Vincent “Bud” Whitehead, counterintelligence agent (28:17–29:13)
• Balloons continued to be discovered across the US and Canada for decades; one was found in British Columbia as late as 2014 (31:08).

“Yeah, that’s the thing. These were artifacts at this point… There was one found in October of 2014.”
— Ben (31:08)

Technical Details: Explosives and Ignition (31:57–41:05)

• What were the explosives? Mainly thermite, a mixture of fine aluminum powder and iron oxide; produces extreme heat when ignited (32:28).
  • Similar reactions appear in pop culture (Breaking Bad reference at 32:15).
• Ignition: Complex chain, usually involving fuses, black powder charges, and impact-based triggers (40:23).
  • Balloon could still be dangerous decades later if handled.

The Main Flaw: Reliance on Chance and Changing Technology (38:13–42:27)

• The campaign’s failure stemmed from an inability to steer balloons; they traveled at the mercy of wind and weather (38:13).
• Modern follow-up: Weaponized balloons persist in military research primarily as surveillance platforms, not offensive weapons (41:44).

Balloons, Blimps & Pop Culture (42:53–45:02)

• Fun, tangential riffing on the cultural legacy and future of balloons, zeppelins, blimps, and Goodyear nostalgia.
• The hosts propose a “Ridiculous History” blimp ride if any listener has one to spare.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the scope of the Fugo campaign:
  “Turns out that one of the most unusual attacks on American soil occurred during World War II. And it was a balloon attack, or it would be more accurate to say a balloon bombing.” — Ben (07:12)

• On the design and intent:
  “The idea was to wreak havoc and chaos on America's Pacific northwest region, specifically by causing forest fires.” — Noel (09:13)

• On American secrecy:
  “The US Military took the wrong course of action when they decided to stay silent. Because when there's no transparency, speculation thrives.” — Ben (23:27)

• On tragedy:
  “This takes place in Bligh, Oregon. It was a Sunday school picnic. They approached the mysterious debris of one of these balloons… [and it] exploded.” — Ben (25:28)

• On the futility of the effort:
  “So in other words, they didn’t work. They were duds. Right. Like, the fuse didn’t ignite properly, and then they just went down, and there was no boom.” — Noel (31:29)

• On surreal attempts at wartime innovation:
  “That’s the thing about innovation. It’s always risky.” — Ben (39:58)

• Pop culture aside:
  “Airships are so cool because they're so ominous and so slow moving. And they have this kind of like doom bringer kind of quality to them, you know?” — Noel (43:35)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Balloon Banter | 04:20–06:43
• Origin/Fugo Technology | 06:43–12:42
• How Balloons Worked/Flew | 12:42–14:18
• US Secrecy and Public Reaction | 14:18–24:39
• Fatal Oregon Incident | 24:39–26:46
• Near-Miss at Hanford Plant | 28:06–29:13
• Later Balloon Discoveries | 30:26–31:29
• Explosives Details | 31:57–32:28
• Strategic Flaws & Modern Balloons | 38:13–42:27
• Pop Culture and Blimp Tangent | 42:53–45:02

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Conclusion

Ben and Noel combine wit and rigor to reveal one of WWII’s most bizarre tactics: Japan’s Fugo balloon bomb campaign. Intended to sow panic and wildfires, these bombs ultimately caused more confusion than destruction, but remained a historical curiosity—with a tragic, little-known loss of life as their legacy. The hosts highlight the limits of innovation-by-chance and reflect on the enduring intrigue of flight and floating things, reminding listeners that even the silliest inventions can have a dark and surprising history.

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Further Listening/Links

• Smithsonian Annals of Flight: Robert C. Mikesh’s research (cited)
• Wired, May 5, 1945: “Japanese Balloon Bomb Kills Six in Oregon” by David Kravetz
• Prior Ridiculous History episodes on bat bombs and dirigibles
• Look up “Fugo” and the Bligh, Oregon incident for more.

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Join the Ridiculous History community: Share your airship stories or opinions on balloons via their socials or Facebook group!

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Transcript

[A]

Fellow Ridiculous historians, welcome to this week's classic episode. Noel, have you ever been into balloons?

[B]

You know, Ben, I do love balloons. They're just a delightful thing to behold. I like it when they float. I like it when they bounce. I just like them. I like them when they're shaped like things like them when they're wielded by clowns. I don't really like them as delivery mechanisms for bombs, though.

[A]

Ah, yeah. Yep. That's why you and I should have been in the meeting in late 1944, probably a few years before that, when thousands of people on the west coast of the United States noticed bizarre, what they called jellyfish, like objects floating in the sky.

[B]

Yeah. And this episode is called the Attack of the Japanese Balloon Bombs. And let's roll the tape. This is an iHeart podcast.

[A]

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I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.

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It's the rage, Bai.

[A]

It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.

[B]

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[A]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartradio. Welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians. Quick peek behind. It is Friday as we record this and all three of us are really looking forward to the weekend. Hi, I'm Ben.

[B]

Hi, I'm Noel. And double peek behind the curtain. This is take two of starting this episode. The first time around, I said that my name was Ben and you had said that we were very excited to be here. I was gonna say I'm very exhausted, but still excited to be here. But then I called myself you. I don't know if that's some kind of, like, Freudian thing or what, but I am happy to be here and happy to see you.

[A]

I'm happy. I'm happy to be here and I'm happy to see as well, Noel. The same goes for our super producer, Casey Pegram. Quick question for you, Casey. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? Never. No. What about you, Noel?

[B]

No. It seems utterly terrifying to me.

[A]

I have also never, as far as I know, been in a hot air balloon. So if I ever was, I must have been a wee wee tyke. But they are one of my favorite of ridiculous human inventions. Can you just imagine the cartoonish audacity of it? Someone said, well, we'll just, you know, get up there and see how it goes from there. Hot air balloons, aside from being, you know, visually stunning and inspiring, are also a passion of many, many people. In fact, we, before we went on the air today, we're looking into this and I found no less than three hot air balloon festivals going on in our fair state of Georgia. So this is my pitch. Noel, Casey, do you guys want to go on a hot air balloon with me?

[B]

We could become ridiculous history, the podcast of the air. There we go.

[A]

And some people, perhaps Sheryl Crowe included, would say that we have enough hot air already.

[B]

She is just the worst, man.

[A]

She's really dogging us, man.

[B]

Why, dude?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

What did we ever do to.

[A]

Cheryl just complimented the bongos.

[B]

You know, that's what I always do. I really do think that's a very important moment in American music.

[A]

Agreed. Agreed, my friend. We want to hear about the hot air balloon experiences in your life or the festivals in your neck of the global woods. And we'll keep you guys updated over the summer if any of us or all of us make it to one of those. But today's story is not about the fun high altitude hijinks of touring the air in a hot air balloon. No, it is about balloons as weapons.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, when we think of aerial attacks against the United States, the first thing obviously that comes to mind and for many, the only thing that comes to mind are the tragic events of Pearl harbor on December 7th of 1941, when Japanese forces mounted a bombing raid on Pearl harbor, kicking off the events of World War II on September 9th of 1942. But it turns out, Ben, that is not the only air attack on American soil.

[A]

You're absolutely right. It turns out that one of the most unusual attacks on American soil occurred during World War II. And it was a balloon attack, or it would be more accurate to say a balloon bombing. You see, the Japanese army employed balloon bombs or as they were called, fugos F U G O s Starting in 1944, the Japanese military constructed and launched over 9,000 high altitude balloons. And these each were loaded with 50 pounds of explosives.

[B]

That's right, Ben. So the Japanese Military Scientific Laboratory actually came up with the idea of what they referred to as Fusen Bakuden or balloon bombs back in 1933. And the Fugo that you mentioned, Ben, or these balloon bombs were just one of several ideas that were proposed by this research unit. And there's a fantastic scholarly report in the Smithsonian Annals of Flight by Robert C. Mickis that's kind of the definitive work on this. And it's pretty crazy. Some of the ideas they didn't go with are even more ridiculous. There's one called a death ray. And the idea there was, it was going to be balloon driven. It would shoot like electric rays or electric bolts at people on the ground. It would hover low. And then there were several other versions of what became the fugos. Lt. Lt. Gen. Raikichi Tada of the Japanese military scientific laboratory is the one who was assigned to this program. And he developed several pretty out there ideas that were already in the works. One of them was the Aigo weapon, which was a wire controlled tank that could attack enemy positions. And then there was the Rogo weapon, which was a rocket propelled weapon. And then you had what I mentioned earlier, the death ray that would kill enemies up close with this electric charge. But the one that seemed like it was going to be a winner out of these, the one they wanted to take all the way was the Fugo weapon, which was an altitude controlled balloon. In terms of, when I say altitude controlled, I mean there was a barometric valve that would act according to the elevation, according to how the altitude of the balloon, and it would drop sandbags if it went too high. And then it would change the amount of air that was in the balloon when it went too low. And the idea was it had a fuse that would ignite once the wind currents carried the balloon close to the American coast. And the idea was to wreak havoc and chaos on America's Pacific northwest region, Specifically by causing forest fires. These incendiary devices would deploy when the fuse would burn up. And it was meant to not necessarily cause any kind of real infrastructure damage, but just kind of cause chaos and mass confusion.

[A]

Yeah. And you know, we can totally understand how this pitch sounds crazy at first blush, But a little bit of historical context will help us realize that this is, this is kind of a brilliant idea. This is not the first time balloons were weaponized. During the Italian war of independence from 1848 to 1849, Austrian Lieutenant Yucatas under took the technical development of balloons that could be used as bombs. So there was historical precedent. And the thing was, no one had quite pulled it off as successfully as the Japanese military would hope. Let's talk just a little bit about these balloons. As described by J. David Rogers of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, these balloon bombs were 33ft in diameter and they could lift about 1,000 pounds. But the deadly portion of the cargo again was this 33 pound anti personnel fragmentation bomb. And it was attached to that Fuse you mentioned, Nol, a 64 foot long fuse that was intended to burn for exactly 82 minutes before detonating. And despite the fact that these are weapons of war, you have to appreciate the aesthetic. These balloons were made of rubberized silk or paper and they were handmade. These were glued together. Now one of the things that we, not being hot air balloon experts, have always wondered alone and together here on the show is how exactly you steer a hot air balloon. Because on the offset it seems tough. You would want like a fan up there maybe to provide some sort of propulsion or to function, you know, more or less as a rudder. For the Japanese military. The goal here was kind of a spaghetti at the wall approach. They decided that quantity was a quality all its own. And so they released an estimated 9,000 of these balloons. So far as we know, at least 342 reached the US and some even got as far as Nebraska. But what was their attrition rate? Were they actually causing harm?

[B]

No, no, because they couldn't be steered. And the technology or the idea behind them is they would travel on these winter jet streams for an average of 60 hours to reach America. And like you said, they greenlit through this project after realizing that there was a potential for success. About 10,000 between nine and 10,000 of these balloons. And they were handmade, Ben, by school children, by young schoolgirls, from a neighboring school to the site of this project. And it took 30min, about 30 minutes to an hour to prepare each of these balloons for flight. And let's remember, these were unmanned balloons. These were meant to be autonomous and to behave in certain ways depending on the altitude and just hope that they would get to their target. And the fact of the matter is they were launched on the birthday of the former Emperor Meiji. And that is when the first series of launches took place. And despite the project being top secret, they were not very inconspicuous. They were spotted. They were described as looking like clusters of jellyfish in the sky.

[A]

Absolutely. Because if you look at the picture, you've got this 33 foot diameter balloon, right? And then you've got this fuse going down and the stuff that it's carrying, it looks like a large version of snap and pops. Do you guys remember those? The little paper bags that you would throw and they would have a pop?

[B]

Yeah. With a tiny little, you know, these paper fuse at the top.

[A]

Yeah, it looks very similar to that. Or maybe teabags wrapped in twine. The thing is that although they launched thousands and thousands of these balloons, they didn't cause the level of havoc that the Japanese military hoped they would create. They did have some damaging psychological effects because you look up in the sky and there's this balloon invasion that's unexplained. And the, the amazing thing is that they made it across the Pacific at all. They were launched from Japan to the US and into Canada. And that trip took several days again with no one on board, no one steering. And here's one of the problems. The US reacted in a very strange way. Two days after the initial launch, there's a navy patrol off the coast of California, and they see some tattered cloth in the sea. They retrieve it and they notice that it has Japanese characters on it. They alert the FBI. And then two weeks later, more sea debris of balloons that didn't make the journey are found. And the military started putting together the puzzle pieces. They said, something is up. And then over the next four weeks, reports of balloons started coming in from all across the western half of North America. And every day, American citizens began seeing these people, tattered pieces of cloth or hearing explosions in the distance. I'm Mangisha together, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement. To try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us, I learned about some rad science.

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[A]

And the military immediately freaks out about this. But initially they are not worried about explosives being carried by balloons. Some of the folks in the military on the US Side are concerned that these balloons may carry something potentially far more dangerous than explosives. They are concerned that these balloons may carry biological weapons. And they thought maybe the balloons were being launched from the Japanese relocation or internment camps that existed at the time, or German POW camps. And it wasn't until later in December of 1944, a military intelligence project was put together to evaluate and collect various evidence of these balloon sites. And they figured out they were coming from Japan, not just made by Japanese forces, but coming from Japan. When they looked into a ballast and found that the sand inside the ballast was from a beach in the south of Japan. And they realized that these were meant to carry explosives. And the problem with those explosives is that they could pose a huge danger to the forest of the Pacific Northwest.

[B]

Yeah, that's right, because it's very dry in the winter and these forest fires could really spread and cause some serious havoc. And that was exactly what the Japanese had in mind. Again, they weren't thinking, this is going to put a real dent militarily in the US forces, but it would cause some panic and be pretty inconvenient. But the military pretty quickly realized that these weren't very precision targeted, that they were pretty aimless. And even though they realized that they were not going to be very successful, as we heard from the folks that reported from the coal mine, it kind of blew up in midair and didn't actually cause any damage. It just kind of freaked them out. They still, the military did not warn the public. They kept it very top secret. And they did their investigation into it. Like you described it, they didn't put out any kind of notice. So people were still seeing these clusters of weird floating jellyfish and didn't know what the hell was going on.

[A]

Was it a ufo? Was it an errant domestic hobbyist? What was that smoke in the distance? Did you also hear that explosion? It was with the Benefit of retrospect, we can say the US Military took the wrong course of action when they decided to stay silent. Because when there's no transparency, speculation thrives. But their logic did make sense at the time because they didn't want the Japanese forces to get a morale boost from hearing anything about this operation being a success. The Office of Censorship went so far as to instruct newspapers and radio stations not to discuss the balloons in print or on air. And they made that decree on January 4 of 19. And the Japanese only heard about one balloon incident on the North American continent, and that was through a Chinese newspaper. Now, as innovative and unsuccessful as this plan may sound, the unfortunate truth is that they did cause some fatalities.

[B]

Yeah, that's the thing. They kept the US Military kept this thing under pretty tight wraps until an incident occurred that actually did cause some casualties. Now, Japanese Domain News Agency was reporting on February 17th of 1945 that this had been a success. And this is a propaganda paper. And it was really, really, really inflating the numbers, saying that between 510,000 casualties occurred. But here's the reality. It was actually six. Six casualties. And they were historically the only casualties on American soil for World War II. Which is crazy. Cause you think you would have heard of this. And I had never heard of this until we looked into it. So what happened?

[A]

So this takes place in Bligh, Oregon. It was a Sunday school picnic. They approached the mysterious debris of one of these balloons. A fellow named Reverend Archie Mitchell was about to yell a warning to the kids when the balloon exploded. Sherman Shoemaker, Edward Engen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patsky and Dick Patsky were all killed. And these were children. They were 11 to 14 years old. The Reverend's wife, Elsie Mitchell, also died, and she was five months pregnant. This tragedy is what caused the US Military to finally break its silence and its suppression of the story. And so they began issuing warnings not to tamper with anything that looked remotely like one of these balloons.

[B]

Because. Let's just backtrack slightly. This balloon wasn't deployed properly. It's not like it fell on them. It was already on the ground. On the ground. And like basically this woman, when she pulled the family car, pulled over because she was feeling some morning sickness, and she discovered this bundle of stuff that looked kind of like paper, like almost like origami paper or something like that, and thought it was neat looking, and they started poking at it or something, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And she said, look what I found, dear. According to the Mail Tribune newspaper in Southern Oregon, there's A great article. You can read about this from David Kravitz, writing on Wired. May 5, 1945. Japanese balloon bomb kills six in Oregon. So it left these innocent people dead in a horrific scene. They didn't all die immediately. Joan Patsky died minutes after being seriously injured. There was a one foot hole in the ground. And although they were, as you said, Noel, the only known casualties of this operation, the US Government didn't want to take any chances. So they issued, you know, they started warning people not to mess with these things. They also, at the same time, somewhat counterintuitively or paradoxically emphasized that the balloons did not represent a serious threat. And they said, just report these. Just let us know if you see them. We'll send someone to take care of them. And that led to, you know, as we said, 300 to 342 incidents being recorded with various parts recovered, but no lives lost. They did, however, have a very close call with infrastructure.

[B]

Yeah, one of them hit a power line and caused a blackout at a weapons facility in Hanford, Washington, a nuclear weapons facility that could have gone a lot worse than it did.

[A]

According to Colonel Franklin Matthias, the Hanford plant did lose about two days of production. But he thought, as he recalls, at least, he says, we were all tickled to death that this happened because it proved our backup system worked as far as keeping everything stable when they lose the power. And another guy there, Vincent Bud Whitehead, who is a counterintelligence agency at Hanford, recalled chasing and bringing down another balloon. And he was chasing it from a small airplane. Get this. This is crazy. This is what he literally did. He says, I threw a brick at it. I put a hole in it, and it went down. I got out there and I started tromping all over that thing and got all the gas out of it. I radioed in that I had found it and got it. They sent a bus up with all the specially trained personnel. Gloves full of contamination suits, mask. I had been walking around on that stuff, and they had not told me that they were afraid of bacterial warfare. Yes, I know.

[B]

Want to do a quick correction? It wasn't. The balloon didn't hit the Hanford site. It hit the Bonneville Power Administration in Washington, which supplied power to the Hanford site. That was one of the biggest consumers of power from that particular grid. And so that could have caused some major problems.

[A]

And so balloon sightings continued throughout the years. It's interesting because, you know how now these kind of things can take over a country's collective attention span. Right. Just after the war, reports continue to come in from far and wide about balloon incidents. The Beatrice Daily sun reports them over seven different towns in Nebraska, including Omaha. The Winnipeg Tribune notes that there's a balloon bomb found 10 miles from Detroit, one near Grand Rapids. They were still finding balloon bombs as far as, like, the mid-1950s.

[B]

Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, these were, like, artifacts at this point. Right. They were exploded already, or maybe they didn't go off properly. And they were scattered, because, I mean, that's 10,000 that were deployed with various that ended up scattered all over the country. I think they made it as far as Michigan, I want to say. Right?

[A]

Yeah, they made it as far as Michigan, Hawaii, even, and Alaska, I believe it was in January of 1955. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the U.S. air Force discovered a balloon in Alaska in 1955. And then in 1944, looking back, an outfit called the Santa Cruz Sentinel noted that a fellow named Bert Weber, who was an author and a researcher, had found 45 different balloon bombs in Oregon, 37 in Alaska, 28 in Washington, and 25 in California. And reports still continue to pour in. There was one found in October of 2014.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. In British Columbia. According to Henry Prose of the rcmp, or Royal Canadian Mounted Police, this balloon had been in the dirt for 70 years. And he said it would have been way too dangerous to move it. So it's possible that someone found it in the intervening decades and just decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

[B]

So in other words, they didn't work. They were duds. Right. Like, the fuse didn't ignite properly, and then they just went down, and there was no boom.

[A]

But still, if you mess with it, you know what I mean? You could cause it to explode.

[B]

I don't think we found this, Ben. But what was the material? I know the balloons were hydrogen balloons, so that could have even aided in the spreading of the fire, because that's highly flammable, like Hindenburg and all that. But what was the material the explosives were made of?

[A]

Incendiary bomb is kind of a genre of bomb. It can include stuff like napalm, magnesium powder, white phosphorus. These used thermite. And thermite is. How did you say no? Did it occur in Breaking Bad?

[B]

Yeah, there's one of those MacGyver kind of moments in Breaking Bad where I think he uses an Etch A Sketch or like, the iron filings in an Etch A Sketch to create thermite or to make a reaction that produces this explosion.

[A]

Yeah, thermite is a mixture of finely powdered aluminum and iron oxide. It creates a really high temperature on combustion and it's often used in welding and for incendiary bombs. I'm Mangesha Tigadir and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[B]

I can make a brain for you and then we can test what drug is the best for your brain. A suppose to his brain.

[A]

Here are some hard truths.

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I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to

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[B]

I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know.

[A]

Listen to Skyline Drive how to Live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert E. Lee Boulevard, get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Park Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akilah Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies.

[A]

We contain essence. We contain spirit.

[B]

How do you represent that?

[A]

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching.

[B]

You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered, you know, sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? Why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself. I'm Rebecca Nagle Gohin Tawadon Jalecayetli Gay LA citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big Chiefs fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Mainstream media is full of cruel depictions of the unhoused, stories that shame and blame and paint the unhoused as a monster to live. We the Unhouse is the podcast that's changing that. I'm Theo Henderson, creator and host and for years I've created a space where the unhoused and their advocates can tell their own stories. In the last few months alone, I've interviewed unhoused parents, immigrants, mutual aid organizers, veterans, the LGBQTIA community and the policymakers who make the laws that implement impact the unhoused existence. Radian House is a two time Webby and Signal award winning show with many exciting guests on the horizon. Tune in this week for my interview with Dr. Gio Wicheric, a street doctor turned influencer whose work with the unhoused community has made a huge impact online and in her community. Listen to we the unhoused on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Michael Rapaport and my podcast, the I Am Rapoport Stereo Podcast is unlike anyone you've ever heard. We're a variety show and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, and it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor 150%. This kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rappaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast I Am rapperport Podcast.

[A]

So this is dangerous stuff. And in 2014 when the RCMP found this, you know, this ancient bomb, they handled it by putting C4 explosives on either side of the thing and blowing it to smithereens.

[B]

And thermite burns so hot that it can, as it was used in that scene in Breaking Bad, melt metal. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

I mean, it's a biggie.

[A]

It's nothing to play with. So it's interesting because we have to consider how much of this plan and how much of the fallout of it hinged purely on chance. You know what I mean?

[B]

Well, that's the thing we talked about earlier at the top of the show. There's really no way, even if you're manning a balloon or piloting a balloon, you're kind of just able to go up and down. I mean, we talked off air about how a zeppelin or a blimp is a more or less a steerable hot air balloon because it's more streamlined and it moves in a forward direction. Right. And it's got, like a fan system. But this kind of balloon really can only go up and down. And as we described earlier, it was a kind of altitude controlled system. I believe I said it the other way around earlier in the show. So I just want to correct myself there. If it was going too high, then hydrogen would be released from the balloon, and if it was going too low, then sandbags would be deployed. And it was all this kind of valve that was controlled, like, barometrically to

[A]

keep it at a more or less consistent altitude in order to have the

[B]

most consistent path because it was being pushed along by these winter jet streams. But once you let them go, there's just no precision. It's like the episode we did on the bat bombs. Remember that, Ben? Yeah, very similar. Where they had to be deployed automatically using very similar mechanisms, I imagine, or I believe. And those were a big old mess, too. And didn't we. We used those against the Japanese, remember? Yeah, because we dropped them on Japanese villages because the houses were made of wood and paper and stuff. And they would potentially burn the houses, right?

[A]

Yeah, well, not. Not you and I, specifically.

[B]

No, no. The bats would. The bats would nest in the eaves, and then they had timers that would then eventually set off the devices. But that was a big flop, too.

[A]

That's the thing about innovation. It's always risky. Let's talk a little bit about the nuts and bolts of how this thing actually exploded. Like what triggers the bomb?

[B]

Well, there were a couple of different types of ordinance or payload is the military term that they used. I think most of them used thermite, but they were just different sizes and there were different ones that had slightly different mechanisms.

[A]

Yeah, anti personnel and incendiary.

[B]

That's right, exactly. But the incendiary device That I think was most common had a fuse that gets armed during flight and then when it's dropped, but on impact, there's a magazine that's fired, which then ignites a black powder charge. It's much like the way a pistol works. Right. And then that in turn ignites a central channel that contains another charge and then the incendiary material. And there are these different pots that have more black powder charge. And then the explosive force of those reactions, that chain reaction that triggers the thermite, and then the body of the bomb actually erupts. It's enough to. Because it's made of metal.

[A]

Right. And so we see the logic, we see how this could work, and we see the primary flaw in the plan. The reliance on chance. Right. On who fortune favors that day. And this speaks to the desperate state of the war in the desperate state of the Japanese military at the time. While weaponized balloons did not work out for the Japanese military In World War II, that doesn't mean that our species has given up all hope of weaponizing balloons. In fact, we're still, as a species, developing weaponized balloons. Today, the United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency contracted Lockheed Martin to construct what they called a high altitude airship, or HA for short for part of its ballistic missile defense system. This thing is unmanned. It is supposed to operate at a height of over 60,000ft or 18,000 meters, in a quasi geostationary position to be a surveillance aircraft to relay telecommunications and to observe weather. Pretty crazy stuff, you know?

[B]

Yeah, for sure. And I think the way balloons are used mostly today is for observing weather. And then I think there was a. Remember the Google loon project?

[A]

I love the name.

[B]

Yeah. It was a way to deploy wireless Internet connectivity in rural areas. And it was literally like, you know, some sort of broadcast device that was attached to a balloon that could then hover over, like, these areas and they could, like, get wifi.

[A]

Man, I love blimps and balloons so much. I get that they're silly. A few years ago, our pal Scott Benjamin and I got really close to getting into a Goodyear blimp. And the more I think about it, you know, the only reason we don't have more blimps now is because someone would be a jerk and attack them or blow them up. Why can't we have nice things? Why can't I have a blimp?

[B]

I know, I know. And I'll tell you this. I tell you I would not want to ride in a basket on a hot air balloon, but I'd Be totally cool with riding in a blimp and stuff, Right?

[A]

It's just a bigger basket.

[B]

First class for me, baby.

[A]

Right. Like in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Remember? He hops on an airship.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Airships are so cool because they're so ominous and so slow moving. And they have this kind of like doom bringer kind of quality to them, you know? And they make me think of like sky captain in the world of tomorrow.

[A]

Oh, there we go.

[B]

This kind of like idea of like a weird, steampunky kind of future, you know?

[A]

Angelina Jolie with an eyepatch, right?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Eye patches are so cool.

[B]

Her eye patch didn't have a string, though. It just kind of like stuck there.

[A]

Yeah, it was just the patch because the.

[B]

Cause of the future, you know, because of the.

[A]

Because of the retro future. Well, Noel, while I am. While I'm candidly a little bit let down. Poor choice of words. That you don't want to go in a hot air balloon. I totally understand where you're coming from. And I would ride in a blimp with you. Casey Pegram, would you ride in a hot air balloon? You know, if I had a hot air balloon handy and we could be like up and back down pretty soon. Would you. Would you hop on?

[B]

I'll consider it. I'll consider it. What if there was a guarantee that we would take you to the land of Oz?

[A]

I'll consider it.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[A]

By which we mean Australia.

[B]

Exactly. The land of Aussies.

[A]

So let us know what you think. Let us know about your balloon experiences. Let us know if you would be in a hot air balloon. And. And you know, honestly, we just have to shoot our shot at some point. There's no harm in asking, do you have a blimp? Do you have access to a blimp? Because we would love to hang out with you on your blimp.

[B]

That would be a pretty baller vehicle to own. Only the elitist of the elite can own a blimp.

[A]

It's such a toy. Like, unless it's one of those high altitude surveillance platforms. It feels like any private citizen who just says I want a blimp is buying this billionaire's toy.

[B]

That's what I'm saying. If you have a blimp, you also have to have like a hanger. A blimp sized hanger or some way to tether it to like the top of your, you know, skyscraper or whatever.

[A]

It would be so cool to be at a blimp.

[B]

It would be pretty cool. We did an episode on blimps on like that it was like made of pigskin or something like that or it was made of, you know, some organic material. And I believe there was a time where they were, infrastructure was being put in place to like, like stow blimps and they were literally tethered to the tops of buildings.

[A]

Yes, that is correct.

[B]

And they could get into them that way like they would like lower down ladders. I don't remember exactly how it worked.

[A]

And if you want to learn more about airships, dirigibles, hot air balloons and blimps, you can check out some old car stuff episodes early in our respective careers. So do be kind. But yes, please let us know about your airship and balloon adventures. You can find us on our Facebook group Ridiculous Histories where you can meet our favorite part of the show, your fellow listeners. You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram either as our show or dramatic pause as ourselves individually.

[B]

I am Brionic Insider.

[A]

I am Benbolan. Also massive thanks as always to super producer Casey Pegram.

[B]

As always, big thanks to our research associate, Gabe Luzier, Alex Williams, who composed our theme. Our, our dear friend in spirit here with us now, Christopher Haciotes. And you, Ben, I'd like to thank you for just being such a dapper young lad with a heart of gold and a fine head of hair.

[A]

Thank you, Noel. I appreciate that. And likewise to you. You've got a killer hat on. And I've, you know, I've been admiring your gorilla hat. For anyone who doesn't know, my friend here is a big fan of ball caps. Ness has quite a collection. And I gotta tell you, man, I appreciate that compliment because I'm, I'm, I'm feeling a little, a little under the weather today. I'm, I'm kind of slumming it. I'm wearing jeans.

[B]

Oh, I can't see them because they're underneath the table. From where I sit, you look like a, a fine strapping young lad.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you. I, I, I appreciate it. I wonder where the phrase strapping came from to describe someone as fit and capable. Story for another time?

[B]

I think so. I think we should explore it on another episode of Ridiculous History. We'll see you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 150 years ago, they were hunting us down to kill us. And now they're hunting down immigrants to deport them. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff youf Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciency episodes for your peer review with our new stuff. Stuff you should know. Doing science playlist out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? The simplest explanation is usually the right one. We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody. Turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know. Doing science Playlist on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Podcasts. Can superstars even exist the way they used to?

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2016 was sort of that last era of monoculture where we still consume things in community.

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