thanks Herman2. here in the US we still have unexploded bombs to. during the war Japan sent thousands of balloon bombs across the Pacific. they knew something we didn’t. the jet stream. about 9000 we launched and around 1000 landed in the US and Canada. a little over 300 were found. 1 killed a family of 5 in Oregon. heres the site. these were were made by Japanese children:
[balloon bombs](balloon bombs)
I think its more like hundreds or 10s and most of them never even reached the US. one that did exploded because some ammie was stupid enough to mess with it:D.
Just from today, it’s in german and from our regional newspaper, the link is meant just to show that this isn’t a fairy tale:
http://www.az-web.de/sixcms/detail.php?template=az_detail&id=587454&_wo=News:Topnews&_g=«Ich-habe-eine-Fundsache»:-Mann-bringt-Granate-zur-Polizei
This guys shows up on a police post in the western german town of Jülich claiming : “I found some lost property on a field and thought it was too dangerous to be left there.” Then he places a 20mm shell on the counter. I’d like to see the female police officers’ face turn pale…
The cops took it with humour though and told the man that not all lost property has to be brought to the police. They’d love to come out and take care of it on the habitat directly.
Um, we have a lot more unexploded ordinance from haphazard US military disposal practices…
Including a WWI era chemical weapons dump nightmare in an upscale neighborhood of downtown Washington, DC…
sorrry. wrong info. found out its like 10 thousand but only few exploded.
Is this true? I thought these japanese balloon bomps were a legend just like german flying saucers etc.?
Very interesting, I liked the “Canadian Airforce” - explanation.
From Aachener Zeitung:
Geilenkirchen-Süggerath near Aachen/Germany. September 11, 2008
61-year-old farmer injured as grenade explodes
A phosphorus handgrenade from WW2 caused a large scale operation.
An injured farmer and ten further bystanders were transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Two employees of the municipal building yard noticed a formation of smoke at an embankment near a trail. While trying to extinct the alleged fire an object rolled down the embankment and on the trail. When the farmer -who just came along- stooped over the piece of metal, it exploded. The object was later identified as a phosphorus handgrenade from WW2. Due to the detonation chest and clothings of the farmer were burnt. The two municipal employees and eight fireworkers and paramedics were brought to the hospital as well because of the danger of toxication from the phosphorus smoke.
While I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany in the mid-1970’s I had the dubious pleasure of “finding” some left-over WWII ordnance on the local military airfield while on MP duty one day. A guy was using a bulldozer to scrape up dirt to make a back-stop for the new pistol range being built when the dozer blade dug up what at first looked like a large chunk of concrete. He was pushing it out of the pit with the blade when I noticed what looked like part of a tail-fin sticking out. I said a loud and heartfelt “OH SHIT” to my partner and we managed to get the dozer guy stopped and the area evacuated post-haste. Turned out to be a 500lb British bomb and yes it was very impressive when the EOD guys detonated it!