From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V3 #40 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Wednesday, 12 May 1993 Volume 03 : Number 040 In this issue: Re: AURORA Bib Recent Aurora Article (was Re: Another Aurora Question) Re: References to Aurora Sonic Tracking Classified/Unclassified RE: Recent Aurora Article (was Re: Another Aurora Question) See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul Michael Keller Date: Tue, 11 May 93 10:25:02 -0400 Subject: Re: AURORA Bib Here's another reference, relevent to the discussion at hand, which I forgot about when I compiled the list which Larry included in his earlier posting: Jane's Defence Weekly, V17, No18, pp. 763-767, (May 2, 1992), "Big Bucks for Black Budget" This is a Bill Sweetman piece about DOD black programs in general, with particular emaphasis on the amount of money being spent, where it's being spent, and which service the money is spending the money. Since JDW isn't widely available, if there's interest on the list I can writeup and post a more detailed summary of this. To con- serve bandwidth please use private e-mail to respond. Paul Keller pkeller@engin.umich.edu ------------------------------ From: Simon Storry Date: Tue, 11 May 93 19:44:34 +0100 Subject: Recent Aurora Article (was Re: Another Aurora Question) Ran, Here's another Aurora story which appeared in the May 9th 1993 edition of the Scottish "Sunday Post", (The Sunday Picture Post Insert, Page 1). It's not what I'd call the most stunning piece of Journalism I've ever encountered - but then the guy hasn't got much *real* info to go on has he:-) -------------- "Golfers stroll across the course which stretches past the end of the runway at RAF Machrihanish near Cambeltown, not far away from the tip of the Kintyre penisula on the west coast of Scotland. An innocent scene. But above them flies America's top secret new spy plane - our artists impression of drawings by American defence experts. First spotted flying high over the North Sea in 1989, the plane's existence has never been oficially admitted by the American authorities. They were equally secretive when the slealth bomber also used Machrihanish for secret trials before it took part so devistatingly in the Gulf War. The `New York Times', `Jane's Defence Weekly' and the US Magazine `Aviation Week' have all reported that the aircraft exists. It's known as Project Aurora. Oil rig engineer Chris Gibson claims to have seen the aircraft from the rig Galveston Key. Gibson, a part-time member of the Royal Observer Corps, saw the dart-shaped plane taking on fuel from a US Air Force tanker. First word of it using Machrihanish came when a report filtered out about an RAF radar man picking up an unidentified craft travelling at three times the speed of sound near the Kintyre peninsula. Locals started querying terrific sonic booms ripping through the sky near the base. Then the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute investigated earth tremors and strange shock waves across the Friesian coast - and said the probable cause was the sonic boom from an aircraft flying at a speed of 4000mph. Machrihanish has the longest military runway in Europe and the US is to invest another 7 million pounds in the base. Moreover, the US's secret or "black" budget has pumped $8 million into the Lockheed Corporation's ultra-high security Skunk Works in the California Desert, believed to be for Project Aurora. Aurora's task would be to fill in fine detail of observations by the spy satellites the US uses for routine reconnaissance. Like the Stealth bomber, it would be capable of defying almost any radar system. Add it all up and there's little doubt about the most curious birdie at Machrihanish golf course these days." -------------- If anyone's interested in the Artist's impression I can scan it and upload it to the archive on harbor. However, it isn't much different from the psaurora.jpg impression and is in B/W. Regards Simon +:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::+ :: :: :: :: Simon Storry :: email: sstorry@axion.bt.co.uk :: :: :: voice: +44 473 646642 :: :: Mail: Rm 306, SSTF :: fax : +44 473 643019 :: :: British Telecom :: :: :: Laboratories ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::+ :: Martlesham Heath :: :: IPSWICH :: `Nothing's really a problem... :: IP5 7RE :: if you've got a big enough hammer!' :: UK :: +::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::+ ------------------------------ From: lou@Cadence.COM (Louis K. Scheffer) Date: Tue, 11 May 93 11:58:11 -0700 Subject: Re: References to Aurora Here's an obscure reference to Aurora- The Caltech alumni newspaper had an article about the siesmologist that tracks these things. The basic idea is simple - a sonic boom is strong enough to pick up on a siesmometer. Since these have good timing information available (that's how they locate earthquakes), and cover sourthern California in a dense network, it's straightforward to track hypersonic aircraft. They have tracked the Shuttle, which has a known course, so they know it works, and is quite accurate. You can also get a rough size. This is what they found (from memory, so could be wrong): 2 aircraft, about a minute apart Mach 2-3, 20,000-40,000 feet over LA Vector pointing towards Tonopah Size: smaller than a shuttle, bigger than a fighter (I think) This, to me, is by far the most convincing evidence of such a plane. Not mentioned in the article, but by implication: 20,000-40,000 feet over LA is VERY busy airspace. There are lots of air traffic controllers concerned with this area. Since they have not complained about military planes flying through their airspace without notice, it must not show up on their radars. (Although it might be interesting to re-examine the tapes once you know when and where to look.) Hope this helps, Lou Scheffer ------------------------------ From: ab151@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (GARY RAMTHUN) Date: Tue, 11 May 93 14:46:25 -0600 Subject: Sonic Tracking The fact that radar controllers do not skin paint an aircraft means very little anymore. The ARTCC only read transponder readings for under normal conditions. - -- Gary Ramthun ab151@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU 12989 E. Arkansas Dr Compuserve 70571, 1566 Aurora, Colorado 80012 An advanced student of life ------------------------------ From: ab151@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (GARY RAMTHUN) Date: Tue, 11 May 93 14:59:46 -0600 Subject: Classified/Unclassified Regarding Ran Bartons search for information. Ran, Don't feel alone in searching unclassified sources. In the Air Force, I had access to many Top Secret documents to assist in preparing aircrews for threats they may encounter. Yet during certain exercises we were up against our own ships and missles. To those systems, we did not have source materials and so had to resort to unclassified (usually Janes) for ship and missile information. It may have been possible for us to get the classified stuff, but we either didn't start the request procedures early enough, or because of non-cooperation of interservices, we did not have the information. For a couple of years, I gave intelligence briefings to the local crews and staff. It was essential that I read the Avaition Leak as soon as it arrived, because it frequently had information in it that had not yet filtered down through the Air Force channels. Of course that is why the Air Force always uses the "neither confirm nor deny" phrase. Some of the stuff that AW publishes may not be accurate, and so the enemy cannot take it all as fact, without verification from other sources. One other thing. Though the cold war may be over, I see in the local press that industrial spying is on the upswing. An aside: I worked for two large defense contactors. I think they protect company secrets even better than they do the classified stuff. When the bidding team is in conference, they control access like it was Top Secret. - -- Gary Ramthun ab151@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU 12989 E. Arkansas Dr Compuserve 70571, 1566 Aurora, Colorado 80012 An advanced student of life ------------------------------ From: "Craig Harding" Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 09:18:10 NZT Subject: RE: Recent Aurora Article (was Re: Another Aurora Question) Simon Storry writes: > Here's another Aurora story which appeared in the May 9th 1993 edition > of the Scottish "Sunday Post", (The Sunday Picture Post Insert, Page 1). > > [...] > > # "Golfers stroll across the course which stretches past the end of the > # runway at RAF Machrihanish near Cambeltown, not far away from the tip > # of the Kintyre penisula on the west coast of Scotland. If the golf course does extend past the end of the runway, why hasn't somebody camped out overnight with a video camera or fast 35mm film and attempted to catch some images of Aurora? -- C. ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V3 #40 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. 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