It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a...Japanese balloon bomb?

Japanese fire balloon of mulberry paper reinflated at Moffett Field, CA after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945
Photo credit: US Army

Just a few months ago, a couple of forestry workers in British Columbia came across a 70 year old inactive Japanese balloon bomb.

Balloon bombs? Yup, they're exactly what they sound like. Balloons made to carry bombs.

Also known as "fire balloons", the Japanese used these as a weapon in World War II. A hydrogen balloon was attached to an antipersonnel bomb - one created specifically to harm humans. They were a cheap weapon designed to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and drop those bombs on American and Canadian cities.

Because they solely relied on the wind blowing a certain direction, they were relatively ineffective as weapons, and most landed without harming anyone.

Several have been found from Alaska to Michigan over the years, but a piece of one that landed in Washington has found its way to Coe! It's part of the B.D. Silliman Collection in the archives; Silliman, an alumna of Coe who was an interrogator at the Nuremberg Trials.

Along with the piece of the balloon bomb are Hitler's medical records, interrogations of Nazis and German army insignia. If you're interested in viewing some of the collection, come on down to the archives!

Interested in a little more info about the balloons? This NPR article is a great read.