13. The Japanese Balloon Bombs
During World War II, Japan launched approximately 9,300 hydrogen-filled balloon bombs, known as “Fu-Go,” toward North America. These balloons, about 33 feet in diameter, carried incendiary and explosive devices designed to start fires and cause damage. Utilizing the Pacific jet stream, they traveled over 5,000 miles to the U.S. and Canada. While most were ineffective, one balloon bomb tragically killed six people in Oregon in 1945, marking the only enemy-inflicted fatalities on the U.S. mainland during the war. (history.com)
