Abstract
In considering the problem of the East Wind Rain Message the historian is confronted with the task of reconstructing from a mass of raveled evidence and conflicting testimony data which will aid him in determining whether or not this controversial message ever existed. Had it existed, and had it been heeded, the East Wind Rain Message conceivably could have altered the course of American history. The importance of this message cannot be overemphasized, for no other document in recent times has evoked such a storm of contradiction, controversy and denials, and rightly so. For had it been properly interpreted, if received, and had immediate practical application of the knowledge it imparted boon effected, this message, very probably, could have prevented the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The value of preventing the Pearl Harbor attack can be appreciated by every American cognizant of the appalling casualty lists and terrific damages suffered in the worst naval defeat in our history. Very possibly, the element of surprise could have been turned against the Japanese, resulting in a speedier conclusion to the war, although this is merely conjecture. The historian's task is doubly complicated by the fact that the message does not exist today, that there is divergence of opinion as to whether or not it ever existed, and, if it existed, there is considerable doubt as to its interpretation.