From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #151 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Tuesday, 6 September 1994 Volume 05 : Number 151 In this issue: Auto Reply from Watch_Mail for 26-AUG-1994 17:00 to 7-SEP-1994 08:00 Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #150 Re: DCX Re: DCX RPVs Mistaken as UFOs Contrail Image from Timestep Satellite various items, SR-71, M17, and some books list of code-names for classified programs IR flares Detection of SR-71 by U.S. spy satellites Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #150 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: Mark A Buda DTN 381-1969 01-Sep-1994 0056 Date: Thu, 1 Sep 94 00:54:58 EDT Subject: Auto Reply from Watch_Mail for 26-AUG-1994 17:00 to 7-SEP-1994 08:00 I am on vacation and am not around until September 6, 1994. The following people can help you, if you are in dire need. Paul Lacombe (STAR::LACOMBE) Bryan Jones (STAR::BJONES) Enjoy, - mark ------------------------------ From: russellk@BIX.com Date: Thu, 01 Sep 1994 10:18:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #150 >"More Than My Share of It All" by Kelly Johnson with Maggie Smith. [...] >Paperback: $16.95 > >2) "Kelly's Way" is a 50 minute video which covers Johnson's [...] >$6.95, yes, six dollars and ninety-five cents! > >3) "Blackbird, the movie" is another 50 minute video which depicts a [...] >$6.95 > >All of these items (and more) are available from Lockheed's Palmdale >store. Any way we can get these by mail order? Do you have an address or phone number? Palmdale is a long way from the East Coast. ============================================== Russell Kay, Technical Editor, BYTE Magazine 1 Phoenix Mill Lane 603-924-2591 Peterborough, NH 03458 fax 603-924-2550 ============= russellk@bix.com =============== ------------------------------ From: Paul Michael Keller Date: Thu, 01 Sep 1994 13:11:16 -0400 Subject: Re: DCX Jamie Aycock shaped the electrons to say: >I was wondering if anyone had any recent news on the DCX program lately. >It's been a while since I've caught any news. 'scuse the late reply, for various reasons I couldn't until now. Working from memory from various articles over the past few weeks in AvWeek, DC-X has been shipped back to McD-D in California, Huntington Beach, I believe, for replacement of the aeroshell which was damaged in the explosion a few months ago. What will happen after that is highly uncertain. All of the remaining appropriated funds will go for the repairs. I believe NASA has taken over the program now, and although they would like to complete the flight test program, including the transition from a nose-first ballistic trajectory to the tail-first landing, they don't have any money for it. ARPA (formerly DARPA) has some funds appropriated for single-stage-to- orbit technology, but they don't want to spend it on DC-X flight test. Stay tuned... Paul Keller pkeller@engin.umich.edu ------------------------------ From: John Regus Date: Thu, 1 Sep 1994 22:21:28 -0500 (CST) Subject: Re: DCX The actual program funding came from BMDO of the USAF, which is the downsize of the SDI program. John F. Regus | (713) 960-0045 | SYS/370/390 SYSTEM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING WUI:REGUSHOU | On Thu, 1 Sep 1994, Paul Michael Keller wrote: > Jamie Aycock shaped the electrons to say: > >I was wondering if anyone had any recent news on the DCX program lately. > >It's been a while since I've caught any news. > > 'scuse the late reply, for various reasons I couldn't until now. > > Working from memory from various articles over the past few weeks in > AvWeek, DC-X has been shipped back to McD-D in California, Huntington > Beach, I believe, for replacement of the aeroshell which was damaged > in the explosion a few months ago. > > What will happen after that is highly uncertain. All of the remaining > appropriated funds will go for the repairs. I believe NASA has taken > over the program now, and although they would like to complete the flight > test program, including the transition from a nose-first ballistic > trajectory to the tail-first landing, they don't have any money for it. > ARPA (formerly DARPA) has some funds appropriated for single-stage-to- > orbit technology, but they don't want to spend it on DC-X flight test. > Stay tuned... > > Paul Keller > pkeller@engin.umich.edu ------------------------------ From: MR JAMES EASTON Date: Fri, 2 Sep 94 16:21 BST Subject: RPVs Mistaken as UFOs RPVs Mistaken as UFOs _____________________ Regarding --> >>START<< From: "J. Pharabod" Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 14:55:39 SET Subject: Re: Thermoplane [Deletion] There is something more or less related to that in a book by Jacques Vallee, "Revelations: Alien contact and human deception", Ballantine books, 1991: (p. 157) To me the most plausible theory is that the U.S. military has developed a device or a collection of devices that look like flying saucers, that they are primarily intended for psychological warfare, and that they are being actively tested on military personel. Thus, the persons who control the experiment can always contain the repercussions if the story leaks out. In such cases OSI may be used both to calibrate the observers [...] and to cover the exercice itself. (pp. 161-162) [...] First, how could a small military intelligence unit simulate such complex UFO events? And second (and most importantly), why would they want to do it? The first question is surprisingly easy to answer. There would not be a single trick, but a combination of technical devices used in such a sequence and in such a psychological context as to lead the observers- and if necessary, the public- to the unavoidable conclusion that a UFO had indeed been present. Although such remotely-piloted vehicles would have been difficult to produce in the early Fifties, and therefore cannot explain the totality of the UFO phenomenon.... >>END<< They would not even begin to explain the phenomenon. Monsieur Valee's theory is abject nonsense. Not only, as he admits, would this technology only have existed in latter years, he also ignores the patently obvious fact that there would require to be a substantial number of such RPVs to account for this phenomenon. Additionally, in applying his theory, he also seems to have conveniently overlooked the fact that this phenomenon exists throughout the world. Cheers, James. ..................+............ ..*..../\/\/\/\/\../\/\/\/\/\.. How often have I said to you that when ........../\....../\........... you have eliminated the impossible, ....+..../\....../\/\/\/\/\.... whatever remains, however improbable, ......../\...+../\............. must be the truth. .../\/\/\....../\/\/\/\/\/...*. ...........+................... Sherlock Holmes. ------------------------------ From: MR JAMES EASTON Date: Fri, 2 Sep 94 16:25 BST Subject: Contrail Image from Timestep Satellite Contrail Images from Timestep Satellite ________________________________________ Regarding --> >>START<< From: larry@ichips.intel.com Date: Fri, 26 Aug 1994 16:23:43 -0700 Subject: Re: GIF of Aurora [Deletion] There are probably real, and common (not 'Aurora'), contrails pictured in the distant background, which gave the person who faked the photo the idea in the first place! >>END<< Hi Larry, I had recently posted the following on alt.paranet.ufo, where the images were also, understandably, misinterpreted : [START] I have not seen the .GIF file you are discussing and may therefore be on the wrong (con)trail here. However, I believe you are discussing images which are the current subject of debate in UFO Magazine (UK). According to an article by Graham Birdsall, the editor, in the Jan/Feb 1994 issue of the magazine, he is a "regular subscriber" to Flight International. He noticed the images in the Xmas and New Year edition of Flight International where they had been published along with the following letter: Sir - Two images were received 15 April 1993 by our Timestep National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration HRPT satellite-reception system, which we have established as a third year project for our students. These images have led to much discussion here and our deliberations so far are: * they are infra-red, with greatly reduced visibility in the optical channels; * the second image was received one orbit later than the first (about 100 minutes); * the wind direction was north-west; * the spiral clouds must be aircraft vapour trails; * the pattern shown must have been the flight path (because of little change between orbits), rather than windshear of a vertical stack; * the pattern of the first image is still being generated over the North Sea, because of the thickness and temperature of the cloud trail; * we do not think that all the trails are produced by the same aircraft, because of the varying diameters; * the second image appears to show a departure point by an additional loop. Can anyone shed any light on this phenomena? DAVID WATSON Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Leicester, UK Following a discussion with Mr Watson, Graham Birdsall states that "the loop images were some 40 miles in diameter". In an article within the July/August edition of the magazine, concerning the Aurora craft, Birdsall states, "Interestingly, many observers have excellent aviation backgrounds, and several important characteristics of these new aircraft have emerged. One technical onlooker reported `a strange, loud pulsating roar' which rattled the windows of his home. He added that `it was similar to rocket engine noise, but deep, with evenly timed pulses". He adds, "Most of the `sightings' are more often simply `hearings', something very fast and very high, and always accompanied by wierd-looking vapour trails, displaying a `doughnuts-on-a-rope' pattern known to be associated with a very high-speed engine". There is a follow up article in the September/October 1994 issue of UFO Magazine, concerning the satellite images. Considering the possibility that this may be evidence of the covert Aurora craft, the following points are made (exact text): Ron Lewis, a military analyst from San diego, California, commented: "A description of strange contrails as `doughnuts on a rope' is to be found in Bill Sweetman's book `Aurora: the Pentagon's Hypersonic Spyplane'. The contrails which are shown in Watson's photographs may be similar and somehow related to the Aurora stealthy aircraft. Before making a final decision, I would need further information, including the co-ordinates for the locations shown and the time. The departure point shown in the second image may indeed be an apt description: in Sweetman's book, a triangle shaped aircraft being escorted by General Dynamics F-111s is shown. It could be that the departure point in the photograph is either one of the escorts returning to base, or it might be a booster or fuel tank being jettisoned. The departure point referred to appears to be over water." Regrettably, there is a lot more to these article than I have time to reproduce. It's interesting to note that backgrounds shown in the latest copies of the images are greatly enhanced from the original prints, i.e. in the originals the coastline was blurred but you can now clearly make out the coastlines of south-east England and the north of France. However, the images appear to be definitely one and the same; the shape of the coastlines match the original prints and the contrails are identical. For information, UFO Magazine can be obtained from: Quest International PO Box 2 Grassington Skipton North Yorkshire England BD23 5UY [END] Hope this is helpful, James. ..................+............ ..*..../\/\/\/\/\../\/\/\/\/\.. How often have I said to you that when ........../\....../\........... you have eliminated the impossible, ....+..../\....../\/\/\/\/\.... whatever remains, however improbable, ......../\...+../\............. must be the truth. .../\/\/\....../\/\/\/\/\/...*. ...........+................... Sherlock Holmes. ------------------------------ From: "S.K. Whiteman" Date: Fri, 02 Sep 94 14:58:27 EST Subject: various items, SR-71, M17, and some books These notes may not be news but they are references to the comings and goings of SR-71s and other interesting aircraft. Air International, Aug 1994 page 69: NASA has taken delivery of four ex-USAF Lockheed D-21B high-speed drones which the agency is considering making airworthy again for possible use in flight research projects. They were delivered to NASA by two USAF C-17A flights on June 1 and 2, after removal from storage at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona. NASA has no immediate plans for their use, but acquired them because the remaining 17 examples - all stored at Davis-Monthan - were about to be distributed to museums. If the D-21s are resurrected, NASA will launch them from one of its SR-71 aircraft - a specially modified version of the SR-71's predecessor A-12, the M-21, carried the D-21 piggy-back style during initial tests in 1966. However, after the fourth launch resulted in the D-21 and M-21 colliding on separation, this launch method was abandoned and the D-21s were modified to d-21B standard and launched with rocket assistance from beneath B-52s for all subsequent tests. The last D-21B launch on March 20, 1971, the programme was cancelled in an official ceremony on July 23, 1971 and remaining examples placed in storage. Powered by a Marquardt RJ43-MA-11 ramjet, the D-21 is capable of speeds of up to Mach 3.35 and will operate at altitudes up 95,000ft (28,956m), some 10,000ft (3,048m) higher than an SR-71. Air International, Aug 1994 page 118: An article about the M-17 Mystic-A and M-17RM (M-55) Mystic-B. This aircraft is considered the ex-USSR's U-2 equvalant. It was initially built to counter the recon balloon threat and then became a high altitude recon A/C. Things from Oshkosh: Spinoff 93, NASA ISBN 0-16-042100-4, page 19. A nice smallish picture of an SR-71 from about 7:30 low climbing into a early/late sunrise/sunset displaying shock diamonds. Text on the same page: Pictured above is another NASA research aircraft, the Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird, a former Air Force reconnaissance aircraft. Operating from Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, the SR-71 made its debut as a NASA science plane on March 9 1993, when it carried an ultraviolet camera for astronomical studies to an altitude of 83,000ft, allowing studies of stars, planets and comets at ultraviolet wavelengths that are blocked to ground based astronomers. NASA has three SR-71s, which can carry a variety of science instruments for such experiments as infrared studies of aurora borealis and atmospheric science studies of specific pollutants in the atmosphere. In addition to its utility as a science tool, the SR-71 provides a cheaper, faster way of checking out space systems prior to their use on spacecraft. The aircraft may also be used in support of NASA's High Speed Research program. Being an ex-tanker mechanic I couldn't resist a book called SAC Tanker Operations in the Southeast Asia War, from the Office of the Historian, HQ SAC, 1979. Page 96 displays a 4 o'clock view of 978 being refueled by tanker 80129. The SR-71 has the Playboy bunny logo on the right vertical stab. There are several references to SR-71 operations WRT tankers. I obtained a copy of Siuru,B., 1991, Planes Without Pilots, Tab Aero, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 81 pages, ISBN 0-8306-3432-0. Subtitled advances in unmanned flight. In the things that fly fast category a SLAT (Supersonic Low-Altitude Target). After air launch at 1000ft it drops to 30ft and will fly 60 miles at Mach 2.5 and buzzes a ship simulating a sea-skimmer cruise missile. Sounds like a neat party gag for your local ultralight flying club. For those who want something really fast the Beech AQM-37. Beech Aircraft Co has built over 4000 of the Mach 4 target drones since the mid '50s. If Beech isn't your company then Ryan builds the Model 305 Firebolt HAST (High-Altitude Supersonic Target) which is also Mach 4 capable. For some on like me not being very familiar with this arena of flight I found this book very informative. Another book I obtained some time ago and feel that may be of some interest to those here is Toffler, A., and Toffler, H., 1993, War and Anti-War, Little, Brown and Company, NY, 302 pages, ISBN 0-316-85024-1. Will war degenerate into a series of sophomoric pranks and practical jokes. In the third wave, non-lethal, information based, smart weapon directed war waged against second wave territory holding, trench based, line delimited, multi- million member (politically correct) army will stealth and trickery be victorious? As the recent unpleasantness against Iraq suggests, yes. It would seem that the very nature of war is about to, or has already started, a major change and that this change IMHO may make war a spectator sport. None of this nasty dead burnt bodies, hair teeth and eyeballs all over the scenery, but a group of giggling soldiers running through the night poring sugar in to tank gas tanks. It would seem that a ball bearing in a engine cylinder is just as effective as a 500 lb gravity bomb. A can of TEFLON based lubricant on a railroad track can be accomplish as much damage as a battery of artillery. War will never be the same and if a state of war existed between two countries who would know? Have a good Labor Day weekend............. Sam ------------------------------ From: TRADER@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 4 Sep 94 12:15:37 PDT Subject: list of code-names for classified programs A number of people like to mention U.S. military code-names such as "Aurora" to their friends. In order to give people snappy code-names to mention at cocktail parties and Groom Lake camp-outs, I will provide the following list of recent classified U.S. military programs, along with their Program Element identification numbers, and a description, if I know what the program is: (there are numerous other classified programs hidden behind phrases such as "Special Evaluation Program", but they just don't have the same appeal to the ears as a snappy code-name... Following military custom, I will use all uppercase letters for the code-names) U.S. Air Force ______________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0207137F CONSTANT HELP (listed as a tactical "other support" program) 0207424F COPPER COAST (may be related to hypersonic aircraft studies the Air Force conducted under the COPPER CANYON program a few years back. COPPER COAST now appears in the tactical budget documents as "evaluation and analysis program") 0207587F PACER COIN (Air Force C-130 transport aircraft carrying surveillance equipment. Also known as "specialized reconnaissance systems") 0207591F OMEGA (tactical program. OMEGA is now listed as "advanced program evaluation" in budget documents) 0208040F Project ELEGANT LADY (tactical program -- does not appear in the Air Force budget, because it is funded directly by the Office of the Secretary of Defense) 0208042F HAVE FLAG (tactical missile, now going into regular production) 0301317F SENIOR YEAR operations (current U-2 flights) 0301324F FOREST GREEN (Air Force intelligence collection operation, possibly SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) for the National Security Agency) 0305142F CENTENNIAL (Air Force intelligence program, possibly a new surveillance satellite. CENTENNIAL now appears in budget documents as "applied technology and integration") 0401316F SENIOR CITIZEN (advanced transport aircraft -- tactical airlift) 0603105F OLYMPIC (strategic program) 0603111F MERIDIAN (strategic program) U.S. Army _________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0203806A TRACTOR RIG (appears to be an advanced tactical missile technology) 0203806A TRACTOR CARD (appears to be an advanced tactical missile technology) 0602104A,0603020A TRACTOR ROSE 0602122A TRACTOR HIP 0602788A TRACTOR FLOP (strategic program) 0603009A TRACTOR HIKE (strategic program) 0603012A TRACTOR HOLE (strategic program) 0603013A TRACTOR DIRT (strategic program) 0603017A TRACTOR RED (strategic program) 0603018A TRACTOR TREAD (new tactical program) 0603019A TRACTOR DUMP (new tactical program) 0603322A TRACTOR CAGE (strategic program) 0604768A TRACTOR BAT (tactical program) U.S. Navy _________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0301326N PRAIRIE SCHOONER (Naval Intelligence collection operation, possibly SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) for the National Security Agency) 0603525N PILOT FISH (tactical program) 0603536N RETRACT JUNIPER (tactical program) 0603576N CHALK EAGLE (tactical program) 0603734N CHALK CORAL (tactical program) 0603746N RETRACT MAPLE (tactical program) 0603748N LINK PLUMERIA (tactical program) Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) ________________________________________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0605113D TAPESTRY 0605805D THIRST WATCHER Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) ________________________________________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0605114E BLACK LIGHT Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) _________________________________________ PE number Code-name and description _________ _________________________ 0603734K ISLAND SUN Notes: - - all of the "leaks" above were extracted from unclassified military documents. - - 060xyyyz class programs are RDT&E (Research, Development, Test & Evaluation) efforts. The fourth digit indicates the stage of completion of the program. 0601yyyz = Research 0602yyyz = Exploratory development 0603yyyz = Advanced development / demonstration / validation of concept 0604yyyz = Engineering development 0605yyyz = Management and support Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com ********************************************************************** Anonymous FTP access to files dealing with excessive military secrecy is available from Internet host ftp.shell.portal.com (IP address 156.151.3.4) in the /pub/trader directory. Read the 00readme files for descriptions of the files. Writings from Glenn Campbell, author of the "Area 51 Viewer's Guide" are available in /pub/trader/secrecy/psychospy. ------------------------------ From: matthew@empyr.dircon.co.uk (Matthew Williams) Date: 05 Sep 94 00:57:54 GMT Subject: IR flares Date: 09-02-92; 14:07 To: Skunk-works-digest @gaia.ucs.orst.edu (Internet) From: Matthew Williams @44792000 (VirtualNet) Organization: Empyrion BBS Subject: IR flares Does anybody know of Infra Red flares which glow deep RED for aprox 20 seconds. I saw some in use at Salisbury Plain recently and they seemed to hang up there quite well. The object seemed not for eye visual but special optics visual aid. I also saw some other strange lights whilst I was up there. Can anybody explain a light which comes on and then fires a light straight back down at the ground? This took place at night. I got video footage of it but at the moment I am classing it as a UFO, until somebody explains it away well enough. It was well north west of the Salisbury Plain ranges so should not be training. Just before you say it was helicopter activity - I would point out that all the helicopters up there keep their lights on whilst flying. In the case of most of the lights I saw, within 5 minutes of all strange occurances - helicopters moved in and hung around. Types used around Salisbury include PUMA, LYNX, and CHINOOK. For UK air enthusiasts, hanging around Alton Barnes will enable you to see Chinook's flying at TREE (serious) hight WHILST pulling 45degree banking turns. Quite a sight! They will never admit to it although all sorts of shady flying is easily filmed in this area! Daylight drama is more common or so it would seem. I have also seen new footage now held by Colin Andrews of a Lynx helicopter buzzing his car on a public road, OUTSIDE of the restrcited ranges (on public land) and you can say that the chopper was about 10ft away aprox. The incident lasted about 30 seconds and it was noticed that the passenger in the Lynx was infact doing his best to film Colin Andrews at the same time! Why? Colin was at the time looking at a crop circle. After the helicopter moved away it hovered 5ft above the centre of the same crop circle. This was then followed by a B.O.L. sighting but I am sure you don't want to know about the RAF's capability to track such B.O.L. activity in this group do you? Oh and this was daylight. Cheers /\/\atthew - ----------------------------------------------------------------- KILL STRAKER! ___/\___ " Salutations /________\ Great Buckaroo Matthew@empyr.dircon.co.uk _/ \_ Banzai! " * Q-Blue 1.0 [NR] * VQWK 6.20I *Forwarded by David Westron * Q-Blue 1.0 [NR] * VQWK 6.20I ------------------------------ From: "J. Pharabod" Date: Tue, 06 Sep 94 16:37:32 SET Subject: Detection of SR-71 by U.S. spy satellites Preliminary warning: though I quote an excerpt from the "not serious" review OMNI, this mail is really about the SR-71, and IMHO the subject is absolutely relevant to skunk-works (sorry if it were not the case). An American friend of mine sent me the six OMNI articles (1994) "COSMIC CONSPIRACY: SIX DECADES OF GOVERNMENT UFO COVER-UPS". I found nothing interesting except in the part five, by Dennis Stacy and Patrick Huyghe. Here is an excerpt. Note: DSP = Defense Support Program, and this excerpt is about infrared sources picked up by the spy satellites and tagged "Valid IR Sources." (beginning of excerpt:) One UFO researcher, using sources he won't reveal, has turned up evidence of what he believes might be a UFO tracked by satellite. Last year, Joe Stefula, formerly a special agent with the army's Criminal Investigation Command, made public on several electronic bulletin boards what purports to be a diagram of an infrared event detected by a DSP satellite on May 5, 1984. "I haven't been able to determine that the document's absolutely authentic," says Stefula, "but I have been able to confirm that the DSP printout for that date shows an event at the same time with the same characteristics." According to Stefula's alleged source, now said to be retired from the military, the official code name for unidentified objects exhibiting ballistic missile characteristics is Fast Walker. "But what makes this particular Fast Walker so peculiar," says Stefula, "is that it comes in from outer space on a curved trajectory, passes within three kilometers of the satellite platform, and then disappears back into space. Whatever it was, it was tracked for nine minutes. That doesn't sound like a meteorite to me." Regher agrees: "It was there too long. It was going to slow. It didn't have enough speed for escape velocity." But escape it did. The May, 1984 event allegedly generated a 300-page internal report, only portions of which are classified, though none of it has been yet released. "I don't think they would do a 300-page report on everything they detect," says Stefula, whose efforts to obtain the report have so far been unsuccessful, "so there must have been something significant about this that let them to look into it. My source told me that they basically looked at every possibility and couldn't explain it by natural or man-made means." Nor was this apparently an isolated event. According to the unnamed source, such Fast Walkers are detected, on the average, "two to three times a month." Even longtime arch-UFO skeptic Philip J. Klass, contributing avionic editor to Aviation Week and Space Technology, admits that the military's DSP satellites could detect physical flying saucers from outer space - but with one very large proviso: "If you assume," says Klass, "that a UFO travelling at, say, 80,000 feet leaves a long, strong plume like a space shuttle launch. But we know that isn't the way UFOs are usually reported." Part of the problem, according to Klass, who has written a book on military spy satellites titled _Secret Sentries in Space_, is that the DSP has performed better than spec. "It's too good, or too sensitive, if you prefer," he says. "In fact, it was so good that it was sent back to research and development for fine tuning, in order to eliminate as many false alarms as possible. Obviously, we didn't want a fuel storage tank fire next to a Soviet missile silo to set off a launch alarm," he explains. "Nor did we want the system to track the dozens or hundreds of Russian jet fighters in the air every day." Klass's best guess is that the mysterious May, 1984 Fast Walker event uncovered by Stefula probably represents nothing more than a classified mission flown by our own SR-71 high-altitude Blackbird spyplane. "It's admittedly too long a duration to be a meteor fireball," he concedes, "but the Blackbird typically flies at an altitude of 80,000 to 100,000 feet, which makes the afterburner trail easily visible to the DSP system." In the same context, says Klass, Fast Walker might be a code name for the recently retired SR-71 itself, or, conceivably, its Soviet counnterpart, assuming the Soviets had one at the time. Either way, Klass concludes, "It's no surprise that the air force would want to keep much of this information secret." (end of excerpt). There are several contradictions between the description of the track and the alleged Klass's interpretation (I say "alleged" because it's Klass according to OMNI; maybe Klass did not say exactly that). The object is said to have passed within three kilometers of the satellite platform. A LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite is about 150 km high. The SR-71 can't go much higher than 30 km. Event Aurora (if it exists) can't reach 50 km. Also, it is said that the object came from outer space and disappeared back in space. Finally, I would be surprised if the SR-71 or Aurora had missions so secret that nobody in charge of the Defense spy satellites knew of them - this would be rather dangerous, these spy planes could be misidentified as a Soviet threat. Of course, an obvious explanation could be that Stefula's revelations are just private or government's disinformation. Has anybody on this list heard of "Fast Walker" ? J. Pharabod ------------------------------ From: Corey Lawson Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 11:58:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #150 On Wed, 31 Aug 1994 skunk-works-digest-owner@gaia.ucs.orst.edu wrote: > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > From: "J. Pharabod" > Date: Wed, 24 Aug 94 14:55:39 SET > Subject: Re: Thermoplane > > >I think I have a good answer, now, for the sightings of the "saucer-shaped" > >objects hovering near the non-existent Groom Lake facility. > > >The Moscow Aviation Institute developed the "Thermoplane." It looks > >identical to the spacecraft that was used in the Walt Disney film "Flight of > >the Navigator," with the addition of two vertical stabilizers on the aft > >portion of the "aircraft." However, they are small in size and would > >be completely unrecognizable at night. > > >At night the "aircraft" is surrounded by a myriad of Halogen spotlights and > >colored, strobe navigational lights. My impression of the craft, is that if > >you saw it at night, you would swear that you had a close encounter of the > >third kind. > > [...] > >What better place, than Groom Lake, to refine examine this technology? > > John F. Regus What would really be cool is if it has the polymorphic shape-changing that the ship in _FOTN_ had, the biological computer interface, etc.etc. *:) > ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. > There is something more or less related to that in a book by Jacques > Vallee, "Revelations: Alien contact and human deception", Ballantine > books, 1991: > > (p. 157) > To me the most plausible theory is that the U.S. military has > developed a device or a collection of devices that look like flying > saucers, that they are primarily intended for psychological warfare, > and that they are being actively tested on military personel. Thus, > the persons who control the experiment can always contain the > repercussions if the story leaks out. In such cases OSI may be used > both to calibrate the observers [...] and to cover the exercice itself. It's no secret that Canadair, in the 50s, was working on a "flying saucer" type aircraft. _Wings_ (on the Discovery Channel, not the comedy series...) had a show where they talked about it in some detail, as I recall from memory. Apparantly the military, in typical fashion, so choked it down with modifications etc. that it really didn't meet design specs (although it did fly, just not well). I think it had really crappy fuel usage as well. Someone will definitely have real info on this. Size was about 10 feet in diameter with a big ducted fan right in the middle to provide the lifting power. > (pp. 161-162) > [...] First, how could a small military intelligence unit simulate > such complex UFO events? And second (and most importantly), why would > they want to do it? > The first question is surprisingly easy to answer. There would not be > a single trick, but a combination of technical devices used in such a > sequence and in such a psychological context as to lead the observers- > and if necessary, the public- to the unavoidable conclusion that a UFO > had indeed been present. Let's go back to the classic movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Remember when everyone is sitting on the hilltop, waiting for the UFOs to come back? There's bright lights coming in over the horizon, but lo-and-behold, it's really a couple of helicopters buzzing them with their lights on and all that. So, psychological atmosphere/suggestion I bet has a lot to do with things like this. > Next in the list of mechanical devices are actual flying saucers of > the type developed by Dr. Moller near Sacramento, California. These > vehicles are highly maneuverable and develop sufficient thrust to carry > one pilot with his equipment. They are being manufactured to serve as > reconnaissance platforms in hostile terrain. The diameter is on the > order of eight feet. Equipped with lights, they could be > undistinguishable from actual saucers. > [...] > (end of excerpts) > ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. > > Now here is an excerpt from an interesting private e-mail I got recently: > > " I also came across an interesting book called "A Report From Iron Mountain > On The Possibility and Desirability of Peace". The 'author' is Leonard C. > Lewin, (Dial Press, 1967). This book is a study of the synergism between > war/the military/economics/nationalism/etc. The conclusion of the study > is that a national society cannot survive without a military and a war or > war capability. And, thus the evilness of the "military-industrial complex"... > The book also contends that if a society chooses to banish such a cpability > the function of the military must be replaced by some other threat. The > possibility of using UFOs (or an extraterrestrial threat) is raised, and the > members of the group which produced this study speculated that several of > the more difficult UFO cases were in fact an experiment to study this > possibility of using a manufactured extraterrestial threat to dissolve the > traditional nation-state (which would not exist if war were *outlawed*), and > the traditional national security services were replaced with a super- > military agency under control of a world organization such as the UN. If this is so, then why are there not more UFO sightings in countries like Japan, that are legally prevented from having regionally powerful military forces? So, what you are saying, ultimately, is that nation-states are paranoid. I can agree with that, as it explains national xenophobia, etc. But I suppose there aren't too many countries that don't have good, well-cooked-up national paranoias of one flavor or another. Can't really think of one off hand. The biggest problem of "outlawing" war is how it will be enforced if someone breaks the law. How do you put a nation-state in jail? How do you fine it? If those actions (diplomatic isolation, economic isolation) are put in to place, this does nothing more than increase tensions and promote a feeling inside the sanctioned country that they are justified in striking out. Plus, the economic realities are that economic sanctions just don't quite work the way they are intended to work (Iraq, Haiti, Cuba), as there's always someone willing to trade across the lines. > Has any skunker read this book ? ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #151 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.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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