10 Jan 1945
United States
United States
- A US Navy F6F Hellcat fighter pilot flying from NAS Klamath Falls, Oregon located a Japanese Fu-Go balloon bomb in flight at 28,000 feet. The pilot circled the balloon for several minutes taking photographs before attempting to shoot it down, whereupon he found that his guns had frozen. The Hellcat made repeated dives on the balloon which forced it to a lower altitude. The balloon continued drifting to the southeast as the Hellcat was joined by another aircraft from the same base. Together in a coordinated effort, the pilots continued to make passes on the balloon driving it downward until it finally grounded near Alturas, California. The complete balloon was later recovered and closely examined. The balloon was later inflated at Moffett Field for testing and is currently housed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. ww2dbase [Fu-Go | Alturas, California | DS]
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Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis
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