Ed Helms

It's crazy.

Oh, it's so terrifying.

It is.

And you just feel so helpless.

But these guys are going off their radar and they just opened up a massive barrage of firepower on these radar pips for 30 minutes nonstop and notably nothing fired back.

When the moon rose and the fog lifted around 2 a.m., there was nothing there.

There were no ships, no enemy, just empty ocean.

As one historian put it, the only damage to the American ships had been caused by their own salvos.

The Navy eventually realized they'd spent half the night shelling phantom radar echoes and gave the whole debacle a name worthy of this absurdity, the Battle of the Pips.

Yeah, not to be confused with Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Who are Atlanta, Georgia icons.

Yes.

And quite wonderful.

Yes.

But we're just getting started with this snafu.

Alas, at midnight on August 15th, the actual invasion of Kiska began.

And the problems just started happening right away.

Apparently, Colonel Frederick did not realize, and I quote, "...the current around Kiska was outgoing."

Which I have to assume that means he just timed the tides wrong.

But either way, it's just it's or maybe there's a giant ocean current sort of circling it.