July 28, 1996
Source: FREE press Little Rock
from the regular column, " The Straight Dope " by Cecil "B" Adams
Q: Recently, I heard about the U.S. Air Force's new "doomsday machine" called HAARP, for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program. From what I understand, the Air Force plans to experiment with blowing a hole in our ionosphere by directing intense high-frequency radio waves at it from somewhere in Alaska. The Air Force "experts" assured the interviewer that such a thing would have no negative effect on our global environment or weather systems. There was also some discussion of using this technology as a form of mind control by determining the proper frequency radio waves and directing them at whole armies to render them insensible.
My understanding is that the ionosphere protects us from lethal cosmic forces, allowing the earth to support life as we know it. What evil people are toying with this delicate balance? Where can information be found, and how can concerned citizens appeal to stop this unnecessary experiment?
----Donna Sexton, Northbridge, Massachusetts
A: Come on, where's our sense of adventure? When HAARP is fully deployed in 2002 and they flip the switch, either nothing much will happen or, to hear opponents tell it, it'll be the end of the world. Cecil had a long talk with the folks at HAARP and the latter isn't very likely to happen, but thinking about it will definitely liven up a dull day at the office.
What freaks some folks out about HAARP is the concept: scientist are building an array of 360 high-powered radio antennas in Alaska to generate a beam of radio energy for the purpose of heating up a patch of the ionosphere, the outer part of the earth's atmosphere. This may come in handy for such purposes as:
· Submarine communications: Send a pulsed radio beam into the "auroral electrojet," the high-altitude stream of charged particles found in polar regions, and the electrojet will rebroadcast pulses of extremely low frequency radio energy. In effect, what you've done is turn part of the electrojet into a giant ELF antenna extending for hundreds of miles. ELF energy will penetrate seawater and thus can be used to communicate with submerged submarines.
·Underground surveillance: ELF energy will also penetrate some distance into the earth. By means of "earth-penetrating tomography" --radiating ELF energy at the earth and seeing what kind of echo bounces back--you can map out stuff hidden underground, e.g., mineral deposits or, more urgently for the Pentagon, secret underground nuclear-bomb factories in countries like North Korea.
·Directed over-the-horizon radio communications: You could create one or more "virtual refractors" in the upper atmosphere to direct a radio beam to a location in a distant part of the globe.
Doesn't sound so bad, but HAARP opponents say the Air Force isn't telling the whole story. Their main beefs: first, the project will pour more energy into the sky than ever previously attempted, with who knows what awful consequences. Proponents say the energy isn't that much greater than what existing ionosphere research facilities pump out and in any case, is trivial compared to natural forces. The second complaint is that the military wants to use HAARP to develop scary futuristic weapons..
Among them:
·A "Global Shield" that would zap the guidance systems of incoming ballistic missiles.
·Mind control beams to incapacitate enemy troops.
·Weather control machines.
Sounds wild but at least some of these schemes were embodied in technology patented in the 1980's by physicist Bernard Eastlund, who was a founder of a predecessor company to the current HAARP contractor. HAARP spokesmen say there's no connection between Eastlund's plans and their's and that they're not cooking up death rays or anything of the sort. But check both sides of the story and decide for yourself.
For the full paranoid treatment see "Angels Don't Play This HAARP: Advances in Tesla Technology " by Nick Begich, Earthpulse Press, P.O. Box 201393, Anchorage, Alaska 99520 (907) 249-9111 For the Air Force's version, complete with photos, check out the HAARP website .
Write to Cecil c/o LRFP 824 W. 7th St. Little Rock, AR 72201
Free Press, Little Rock, AR--April 5-18, 1996. By Cecil "B" Adams
All rights reserved to WUFOC and NÄRKONTAKT. If you reprint or quote any part of the content, you must give credit to: WUFOC, the free UFO-alternative on the Internet, http://www.tripnet.se/home/west/ufocentr.htm