US Mainland was attacked before 9/11/01

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

By Japan in 1944 using Fugo balloons which carried bombs. The PBS show History Detectives did a segment on it this week. Here's one reference on the internets

http://soldierant.net/archives/2005/11/fugo_balloons.html

[Breeze54]

1. and off the coast of ME in WWII and in NYC in '98 & in OK.....

Balloons with bombs? How creative! :P

[classof56]

2. Fort Stevens, Oregon was also fired on by a Japanese sub in 1942

Japanese pilots also fire bombed a forest near Brookings, Oregon in 1942 from a float plane transported on a Japanese submarine. The plane was assembled when the sub surfaced, took off from the ocean, flew inland and dropped their bombs.

Interesting history all around! As noted in the article you linked to, five people were killed near Bly, Oregon by one of the balloon bombs that had been released during the war.

Fascinating book on the topic called "Retaliation" by Bert Webber, but I suspect it's long out of print.