On the night of 24–25 February 1942, ten weeks after Pearl Harbor, an air raid alert was sounded over Los Angeles and the anti-aircraft batteries opened fire. The shooting went on for over an hour: some 1,400 shells were fired and five people died — three in traffic accidents in the blackout, two of heart attacks. No aircraft was brought down and no wreckage was found. The next day the Los Angeles Times printed a photograph of the night sky with searchlight beams converging on a bright patch. The frame has been reprinted as evidence ever since, though the retouching on it was ordinary newspaper practice of the period. The official explanation is a weather balloon and wartime nerves.

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Zhigulyovsk and the Mirages of the Samara Bend

Samarskaya Luka and the Zhiguli Mountains surrounding the town of Zhigulyovsk form a dramatic tectonic bend where the Volga River loops 200 kilometers around an ancient limestone massif. The region is recognized as one of Russia's primary epicenters for optical anomalies, where chronic mirages, floating "ghost cities" over the water, and mysterious light pillars have been documented for centuries.