The Real Life Inspiration Behind the Film 'Battle: Los Angeles'

The many versions of the "Battle: Los Angeles" trailer, including the short teaser shown during the Super Bowl, set the mood for such an overused yet still engrossing premise about alien invasion. Usually what captures viewers' attention is the trailer's realism. It features a very human presentation of the devastation and casualties of a possible war between humans and aliens.

No wonder the trailer looks so real, as the film is partially inspired by real events that took place on Feb. 24 and 24, 1942, less than three months after the United States' entry into World War II. Eyewitness reports, including military statements, microfilm archives and newspaper photos, suggest a group of unknown objects buzzed Los Angeles.

"The Great Los Angeles Air Raid"

What occurred in 1942 seemed to be that UFOs flew over Los Angeles, an event now referred to as the "Battle of Los Angeles" or "The Great Los Angeles Air Raid." Reports from the U.S. military and other contemporary sources said that about 1,500 anti-aircraft shells were fired during an hour-long bombardment by unidentified aircraft.

To this day, what the military artillery brigade was shooting at remains unknown. Speculation that the event could be something alien in nature led to the concept for the sci-fi movie "Battle: Los Angeles."

Military or Alien?

The massive anti-aircraft artillery event triggered a sort of panic during that time. The further spreading of the news led to many other insights by news reporters, Navy personnel, Army personnel, and the general public. It also prompted serious debates among many conspiracy theorists, ufologists and eye witnesses.

A press conference with the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, labeled the incident a "false alarm," amidst the immediate buzz of sensational reports and speculations of a cover-up. In 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the controversial event to "a case of 'war nerves' triggered most likely by a lost weather balloon, which was further aggravated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries." However, some modern-day ufologists still suggest that the target of the attacks were extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Every February, the Fort MacArthur Museum located at the entrance of the Los Angeles Harbor recalls the contentious happening from decades ago through the entertainment event entitled "The Great L.A. Air Raid of 1942."

The incident inspired filmmakers to come up with "Battle: Los Angeles." According to director Jonathan Liebesman, "It's not an alien movie that happens to have soldiers. It's a war movie with aliens."

As a wink to the original "battle," one of the movie's posters features an actual photograph of the event that took place in 1942.