The disappearance of at least one of their scouting aircraft (shot down by aircraft from Enterprise before it could send a radio report), caused the Japanese to strongly suspect that U.S. carriers were in the immediate area.
Namun setelang hilangnya paling tidak satu dari pesawat pengintai mereka (ditembak jatuh oleh pesawat terbang dari Enterprise sebelum dapat mengirimkan pesan radio), Jepang menduga dengan keras keberadaan kapal-kapal induk Amerika Serikat di kawasan itu.