The Intended Effect of the Balloon Bombs
What were the Japanese trying to accomplish with these balloon bombs? Most likely, the Japanese did not anticipate the Fu-go bombs causing massive casualties in the U.S. The bombs were meant to spread panic, cause confusion, and inflict psychological damage to the American public. Although the Japanese had no idea of how successful the Fu-Go bombs actually were, the Japanese press reported that the bombs were incredibly powerful and killed in excess of 10,000 people. This was a ploy to try to energize the dampened spirits of the Japanese.
