How 100,000 Balloons Caused Chaos in World War 2

Wars are fought with bullets, bombs, and balloons? How did 100,000 balloons alter the course of World War 2? Check out today's crazy new video to find out!

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[ives]

"War's tragedy is that it uses man's best to do man's worst." - Harry Emerson Fosdick

[BenAck]

"99 Red Balloons floating in the summer sky."

[diversejoe]

Amazing how the simplest everyday items even caused a rift in iconic events in history

[SylviaRustyFae]

Fun fact about balloons and WW2: The Japanese Empire during WW2 had its citizens strap bombs onto balloons and release them into the sky to travel east to America.

They released over nine thousand of these balloons but thankfully the vast majority found no human targets and were not a threat. Save for one, which took out a young woman and the five neighbourhood children she was watchin as part of a sunday school when they stumbled on an unexploded balloon bomb and it was accidentally triggered killin them all, on May 5th 1945.

To prevent mass hysteria and panic, as well as keep the Japanese from knowin if their bombs were even hitting any targets the actual cause of their deaths wud be kept quiet until the war was truly over. Along with many more reports of the 342 bombs that made it to American soil but in most cases were of zero dmg to human targets (and only once fatally lethal); tho they did mamage to hit power infrastructure a couple times.

[ProlificInvention]

Also reminds me of my favorite video of all time, it's on YT and called *4 year old reading "Around the world with my red balloon"* and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, I didn't know my son knew how to read very well until I found that book at a garage sale and finally convinced him to read out loud to me (which he never had done before).
It was the only miracle I've ever witnessed and I still cannot watch it without becoming gripped with emotion.

[davidlaidsshoulders]

So we not gonna talk abt how the infographics show posting every hour now 💀💀

[Snipethebambi]

Brings Balloons tower defense to a whole new level.

[brokenbridge]

I knew about the Japanese balloon operation but had no idea that they British did the same thing. Nice video.

[thatonedudewtf]

Just want to say, I love all your videos :D

[ProlificInvention]

Ha! This reminds me of a device I once invented. I was playing a game at an arcade with my son that inflated a balloon until it popped, then I noticed it reloaded a new one mechanically. That's when I thought of an anti-aircraft weapon that would be a series of these mechanisms that would inflate balloons rapidly with methane or hydrogen, and a small amount of powdered titanium or other abrasive would be inside the tip of each one, or it would have a long extremely thin titanium/niobium wire for destroying jet engines and perhaps power lines. Obviously conceptual, but could you imagine the sky filled with thousands of balloons or condoms inflated to full size with flammable gas? I call it an Atmospheric Area Denial Mass Explosive Mine Device. Cheap, simple and effective way to deny airspace to modern jets and perhaps even airplanes as well as helicopters. Another use could be many of them deployed in an enemy area dragging long wires to destroy both the electrical grid and/or jet engines.

[vikkimcdonough]

0:12 - When Germany started launching V-1 cruise missiles at the U.K. in 1944, they equipped their wings with devices to cut through barrage-balloon cables so that the wing would take out the cable rather than the other way around. I've never understood why this solution wasn't used earlier, or on manned aircraft.

[vikkimcdonough]

Operation Outward: One of the most cost-effective military operations ever.

Operation Fu-Go: One of the _least_ cost-effective military operations ever.

[Foebane]

I never knew about this! I knew about the barrage balloons looking like airships at the start of the video, but not this operation by the UK military!

[whitezombie]

Imagine the German and Japanese officials and leaders when they got told that a balloon damaged their operations. Especially Germany with the electricity at the start

[JeffyJeffingtonTowerDefence]

Bloons TD is finally coming to real life.

[svjezipomfrit]

First time being so early on your video. I love it!

[milesblei]

The white phosphorus one just sounds like a war crime ngl

[kenhammscousin]

How are the graphics made for infographics?

[j.gyamayaka]

Interesting..
Here after the Chinese balloon incident..

[mikeg]

10:42
How did the U.S. find out where the balloons came from?
A 'sand expert' identified the sand used in the ballast as coming from a specific area of Japan.
That way, they knew where to bomb.