On the night of February 24, 1942, three months after Pearl Harbor, the air raid sirens screamed across Los Angeles. Searchlights swept the sky. Anti-aircraft guns fired over 1,400 shells into the darkness. Millions of people watched as explosives detonated in the air. The next morning, five civilians were dead from heart attacks and car accidents. But there was not a single enemy plane. Was it a Japanese submarine launching a plane? A weather balloon? A UFO? Or was it the deadliest case of "e;War Nerves"e; in history? This book dissects the "e;Battle of Los Angeles,"e; showing how fear can make an entire city see phantoms. It explores the power of collective hallucination and how inexperienced gunners shooting at smoke created a feedback loop of destruction.
