WWII Japanese Balloons and Attached Devices: Technical Air Intelligence Center Report #41, May 1945

Beginning in 1944, trade winds carried weaponized Japanese balloons to the North America. This technical report, issued to Allied forces, shows ballon types, their equipment and locates all discovered landings across East Asia, the U.S, Canada and Mexico. It calculates lift power, loads, and inferred performance. Commonly remembered as incendiary, a wider variety of payloads were indicated: personnel, explosives, germs, radiosondes, and anti aircraft gear. Memos describe recovered balloons and the poor results from extensive radar detection testing. The report closes with modeling flights, times, loads, and distances. This is a high quality facsimile of the typescript 115-page report, including 28 photos and 3 drawings. It offers a fascinating look at unmanned aerial vehciles of WWII.