This photo was published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942, and has been mentioned as definitive proof of extraterrestrial visitations. The photo clearly shows searchlights focused in on… something.

It all began in the early morning hours of February 25, 1942; just three months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. had just entered World War II and the military was on high alert when it responded to what was believed to be another unprovoked attack above the skies of California. Witnesses reported a large, round object, glowing pale orange, in the skies above Culver City and Santa Monica, cruising along the Pacific coast.

Air raid sirens sounded and searchlights began scouring the skies over Los Angeles, as over 1,400 shells from anti-aircraft guns barraged the mysterious object as it quietly moved across the night sky, vanishing from view. No enemy aircraft were shot down and indeed no satisfactory explanation could be given for what occurred. The Army’s official statement was that “unidentified planes” had invaded Southern California air space, but Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox dismissed those claims as “war nerves” and a “false alarm.” They never could explain the bright lights in the sky that started the whole affair.