Pearl Harbor Conspiracy Theory

By Noah Slocum

The Pearl Harbor Conspiracy Theory is the theory that the United States, most of all the Roosevelt Administration, knew that Pearl Harbor was going to be attacked and let it happen. Some people think that this is all a big myth, but there are some clues that point the blame in the direction of Roosevelt, or at least the U.S. Various Japanese codes had been intercepted and decided before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Soon before the attack, the U.S. was reading almost every message sent by the Japanese. How then could the U.S. not know about Japan’s plans?

Even that morning when Pearl Harbor was attacked, there were many clues. About two hours before the attack, the incoming Japanese planes were picked up on the radar at Pearl Harbor. An operator reported these blips to a commanding officer, but the officer thought them to be American planes scheduled to arrive a few hours later, and didn’t take much more notice of it. In addition, at about the same time, a U.S. battleship shot down a Japanese midget submarine. The battleship reported this, but the people at Pearl Harbor said that the report was “undetermined.” These signs would have given the U.S. at least an hour to prepare for the attack.

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