BIL/B OTTAWA n: r 7& k THE GAZ^TTE, August 13, 1946 BOMBS VER SWEDEN S w eden, S candinavias h istorie n eu tra l, h as long avoided w ar and th e ap p u rte n an c es of w ar. I t is p a r t of th e irony of m odem h isto ry th a t th a t c o u n try should now find itself in th e disagree- able, foreign-elected position of providing a n a - j tional laboratory for a v ast w ar ex p erim en t. F o r j r a th e r m ore th n a m onth th e Sw edish a ir has j been filled w ith increasing q u an tities of rocket bombs. C haracteristically, th e missiles, various in type, possess long lum inous tails sim ilar to So evident is th e likeness, indeed, th a t origin- a lly i t w as officiallyand even popularly sup- posed th a t th e phenom ena w ere n o th in g m ore or less th n a rem a rk a b le excess of m eteors. H ow- ever the projectiles hav increased in n u m b er from 100 daily to as m any as 200 a d ay ; and la st S unday n ig h t w h at w as described as a sw rm of th e ro b o t bombs passed ver Stockholm itself. O m inous as th e m anifestations are, it appears from scientific exam ination th a t th e projectiles a re in them selves harm less and non-explosive. Nor, fo rtu n a te ly , hav th e fea rs of possible dam - age if th e m issiles w ere to land in a densely popu- la te d a re a m aterialized. N onetheless th e y are not pleasing phenom ena, an d despite th e rep o rted calm of th e Sw edish public, it is p ro b a b le th a t some alarm has been occasioned. Some dism ay a t th e phenofnenon is read ily u n d erstan d ab le, a lto g eth er a p a rt from any in h er- e n t danger. O fficials hav been e n tirely correct, consistently refusing to speculate on th e possible source of th e rockets. H ow ever th e general di- rectio n w hich th e y ta k e so u th east to n o rth w est indicates an origin along th e R ussian-controlled B altic coast of G erm any, w ith in th e fo rm er B altic S tates o r even from th e U.S.S.R. itself. T he Sw edes are d eterm in e d not to im agine th a t th e spate of bom bs indicates m ilita ry prep- arations against th e ir co u n try . A t th e sam e tim e th e psychological effect of th e m y sterio u s bom bing h a s been considerable and h as opened u nexpected w elis of speculation. U nofficial opin ion appears to be pessim istic, believing th a t th e | robots a re m erely u n u su a l p re lim in a rie s to poli- j tic al dem ands fro m a n eighboring stale. T he ! optim ists, how ever, are c e rta in th a t th e re is some n o rm al explanation, even though none has been | given fo r th e m onth of sile n t bom bing th a t has m ade of Sw eden one v ast ex p e rim e n ta l ta rg e t for an unknow n bom ber. A ll S w eden and all civilization w iji h-pe even against hopeth a t th e bom bs are indeed ac- ! ciden ts; th a t th e y are not th e m ilita ry p relu d e to a new m achiavellian diplom atic policy in N orth- j e m E urope.