The story:
“A photo published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942 has been cited by modern day conspiracy theorists and Ufologists as evidence of an extra-terrestrial visitation. They assert that the photo clearly shows searchlights focused on an alien spaceship; however, the photo was heavily modified by photo retouching prior to publication, a routine practice in graphic arts of the time intended to improve contrast in black and white photos.
Los Angeles Times writer Larry Harnish noted that the retouched photo along with faked newspaper headlines were presented as true historical material in trailers for the film Battle: Los Angeles. Harnish commented, “if the publicity campaign wanted to establish UFO research as nothing but lies and fakery, it couldn’t have done a better job.”
Possible explanation:
You pretty much just read it… the photo was heavily retouched and it was actually a weather balloon.