From: skunk-works-digest-owner@pmihwy.com To: skunk-works-digest@pmihwy.com Subject: Skunk Works Digest V6 #1 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@pmihwy.com Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@pmihwy.com Precedence: Skunk Works Digest Thursday, 2 January 1997 Volume 06 : Number 001 In this issue: Re: F-14 Voting Results Classifying gamma ray burst detectors New spy satellite Re: Book of X-Planes Re: Book of X-Planes Re: Astronomers Detect Gamma-Ray Multi-Bursts Liquid metal nuclear reactors Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Hughes AIM-9X Blackbird Re: Blackbird UFO Military/Government Witnesses 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: betnal@ns.net Date: Fri, 20 Dec 96 18:32:22 GMT Subject: Re: F-14 Dave: There are no flight controls in the rear cockpit of the F-14. As a side note, there weren't any in the rear cockpit of the Navy's F-4s either. The RIO has duties separate from the pilot, and this allows a two crew fighter to be much more effective in air combat than a single seater (it's not just a function of automation). It also allow you to build more capability into your fire control system. Since the '50s the Navy has felt that the extra effectiveness of the second crew member ("Top Gun" didn't fully show this) more than outweighs the cost in money. With the F/A-18E/F, they were originally ordered to ignore this. Now, with the admission that they plan to attempt to replace the Tomcat with the Hornet, more two seat Fs are to be acquired. There's no trainer version of the F-14, it wasn't needed. Despite the fact that you've heard about Tomcat crashes lately, and the A model isn't the easiest to bring aboard, it still has one of, if not the, lowest loss rates any Navy fighter has had. Art ------------------------------ From: georgek@netwrx1.com (George R. Kasica) Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 18:53:56 GMT Subject: Voting Results Hello: Well here are thye results of the digest voting as of 1200 CST 20 Dec 1996: 30K Auto Generated Digest Option: 10 Larege Digest run on a Schedule Option: 2 30K Digest Auto and Scheduled Option: 3 SO, we will stay with the digest being generated at about 30K each on an as needed automatic basis. We seem to have squashed most of the bugs that I'm aware of, so if anyone is still having trouble please let me know. Enjoy the list & Happy Holidays, George R. Kasica Listowner skunkworks-owner@pmihwy.com or georgek@netwrx1.com ------------------------------ From: Dick King Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 17:08:18 -0800 Subject: Classifying gamma ray burst detectors > > At 10:32 AM 12/19/96 -0500, Jeff Blue wrote: > >On Tue, 17 Dec 1996, GREG WEIGOLD wrote: > > > >> Thought this might interest the list. Think about the possibility of > >> the technology to control the power of these Gamma Ray bursts..... > > > > > >The AP article on this in my local rag states that such single gamma bursts > >were first discovered by classified military experiments in the 60s. What > >kind of military experiment from that time would detect gamma rays from > >space and why would it be classified? > > > > Jeff Blue / jblue@gate.net > > The usual reason for classifying the observations of that sort of asset is to not allow an adversary to know the asset's properties. If they know something about what's watching them they can play to iis weaknesses. - -dk ------------------------------ From: Xelex@aol.com Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 00:28:33 -0500 Subject: New spy satellite Titan IV K-13 was launched at 10:04 a. m. PST on Friday (20 December) from Vandenberg AFB. It lifted off from SLC-4E, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This was the first time the U.S. Government has acknowledged, in advance, the launch of a reconnaissance satellite, and the specific involvement of the NRO. Weather for the launch was uncharacteristically clear for Vandenberg. Clear blue skies made for perfect viewing as the rocket departed the spaceport on a southern trajectory. Staging was successful, and the spacecraft achieved orbit. The launch itself was typical of a Titan IV: visually spectacular, earth-shaking, and bone-rattling. The launch flow had been "one of the smoothest for Titan," according to Lt. Col. Ed Zehner of the 30th Space Wing. The only glitch was a leaking gasket in the first stage oxidizer system, which caused the launch to be delayed for two days. Brigadier General Howard J. Mitchell, who is reponsible for acquiring and operating NRO space launch and communications activities, described the NRO as the nation's third space agency (after NASA and the USAF Space Command). Peter W. Merlin ------------------------------ From: Albert H Dobyns Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:06:17 -0600 Subject: Re: Book of X-Planes patrick wrote: > > To Whomever was looking for the book of X-planes: > > This is not the book you specifically asked for, but....I saw today at a > Barnes & Noble store a book entitled "X Planes of Edwards AFB". It is > authored by Steve Pace and published by Classic Motorbooks. It is > softbound and cost maybe $16.00. I think this is a very good book of > nothing but photographs of most of the planes developed at Edwards. The > "X planes" are a subset of what this book covers. I have seen the book > you are looking for and this may work as a good substitute till you can > find the other. > > patrick cullumber > patrick@e-z.net I have seen the book you mentioned in the Zenith Books catalog but didn't know that Barnes & Noble had it in stock. I have Jay Miller's X-planes book which I think I ordered it from ZB not too long after it appeared in the catalog. Like many of Jay's books, the sell out fast! I don't know how many of his Skunk-Works books are still available, but I'm glad I got the limited edition plus the revised edition before they sold out. Maybe someone can recommend some book stores to contact that can do a search for a copy. Or is there a way to do this on the Internet? Best of luck. Al ------------------------------ From: Ron and Louise Crawford Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 09:58:42 +0000 Subject: Re: Book of X-Planes Try Midland Counties Publications in the UK for Jay Miller's books. They are his current publisher. My experience with Midland Counties has been excellent. They seem to carry everything, to have adequate stocks, and to be able to handle back orders very efficiently. The downside is that UK prices are distinctly higher and their postal rates are ditto. Address is Unit 3 Maizefield, Hinckley Fields, HINCKLEY LE10 1YF, UNITED KINGDOM. Have a great holiday, everyone! Ron Crawford ------------------------------ From: Wei-Jen Su Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 14:14:56 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Astronomers Detect Gamma-Ray Multi-Bursts On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, Jeff Blue wrote: > The AP article on this in my local rag states that such single gamma bursts > were first discovered by classified military experiments in the 60s. What > kind of military experiment from that time would detect gamma rays from > space and why would it be classified? I know what type of classified experiment!!! It is to create a army of "increible Hulk"!!! Imagine, a special force of green angry big mounsters... :) Just another bad joke for X-mas :) May the Force be with you Su Wei-Jen E-mails: wsu02@utopia.poly.edu wjs@webspan.net "You said it to yourself once (Fox Mulder). You said that... A dream is a answer to a question we have to learn how to ask." Dana Scully (The X-Files) ------------------------------ From: Bill Nickless Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 23:26:22 -0600 Subject: Liquid metal nuclear reactors At 07:25 PM 12/16/96 -0500, Daniel Adam Singer wrote: > > > I am not sure if it is the same project, but my Thermodynamics >Prof. said that he helped on a nuclear powered airplane program. He >mentioned that liquid metals (like Mercury) were used to transfer heat to >the engines. A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit a (ground-based) nuclear reactor out at the Idaho Engineering Laboratory that uses liquid sodium metal as a coolant. One nice feature of that reactor is that it runs at less than atmospheric pressure--that is, if a leak develops in the coolant circuit it will pull air IN instead of spewing superheated steam at incredible pressure. Plus, the liquid sodium expands when heated, which leads to a reactor that expands when loss-of-coolant occurs. Expansion in a reactor causes it to lose criticality. This means that the reactor "safes" itself in lots of accident scenarios. For obvious reasons there were two sodium loops: one that went through the reactor and another that took the heat out to a separate building where the heat flashed water to steam to drive the electric generators. This is the first speculation I'd heard that a liquid metal reactor was used in a mobile configuration like an aircraft or ship. I can only speculate that it would make sense in an aircraft since you wouldn't have the weight penalty of a reactor vessel designed to handle hundreds or thousands of PSI internal pressure while operating. However: I would advise the crew of such a craft *NOT* to try ditching the aircraft: bail out as soon as possible. That much sodium coming in contact with seawater would be, er, spectacular. - -- Bill Nickless nickless@mcs.anl.gov +1 630 252 7390 PGP 2.6.2 Key fingerprint = 0E 0F 16 80 C5 B1 69 52 E1 44 1A A5 0E 1B 74 F7 http://www.mcs.anl.gov/people/nickless ------------------------------ From: John Stone Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 18:46:20 -0500 Subject: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Hello All, Just delurking to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year, with lots of good Aero & Skunky stuff... Best, John | / ^ \ ___|___ -(.)==<.>==(.)- --------o---((.))---o-------- SR-71 Blackbird U-2 Dragon Lady John Stone jstone@thepoint.net U-2 and SR-71 Web Page:http://www.thepoint.net/~jstone/blackbird.html ------------------------------ From: Wei-Jen Su Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 02:04:52 -0500 (EST) Subject: Hughes AIM-9X From AW&ST Dec 23/30, 1996. Hughes won the contract for the competition of the AIM-9X. Anyone know what is the specification and performance that is going to be for this missile??? Like Off-Bore-Angle, max. g, max. speed, range, etc. Thanks in advance. BTW, amazing pics from the 1996 AW&ST Photo Contest. May the Force be with you Su Wei-Jen E-mails: wsu02@utopia.poly.edu wjs@webspan.net "You said it to yourself once (Fox Mulder). You said that... A dream is a answer to a question we have to learn how to ask." Dana Scully (The X-Files) ------------------------------ From: SteveM4337@aol.com Date: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 18:58:09 -0500 Subject: Blackbird Hi, I'm new to the group. I worked on the guidance system for the bird, first in the desert and then at Edwards on the SR-71.. It was the most exciting job I ever had. Steve ------------------------------ From: georgek@netwrx1.com (George R. Kasica) Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1996 02:40:17 GMT Subject: Re: Blackbird On Mon, 30 Dec 1996 18:58:09 -0500, you wrote: >Hi, >I'm new to the group. I worked on the guidance system for the bird, first >in the >desert and then at Edwards on the SR-71.. It was the most exciting job I >ever had. > >Steve > Steve: I'm curious, what type of guidance did/dies it have on it? How much can you say that's NOT classified if any? George ------------------------------ From: "A.J. Craddock" Date: Thu, 02 Jan 1997 07:25:47 -0800 Subject: UFO Military/Government Witnesses The following received from Dr. Steven Greer, CSETI's founder and International Director. Further information about this can be found on CSETI's Website http://www.cseti.com Tony Craddock ********************************** From: Steven M. Greer M.D., [103275,1472] *************************************************************** At 12 am today, 1 January 1997, the deadline expired for US Government correction of our previously stated position that military, intelligence and other government related witnesses to UFO events/projects were free to speak openly of their knowledge and experiences. In a letter dated 15 November 1996, CSETI Project Starlight stated the position that, since projects related to UFOs exist and have existed outside legal constitutional oversight and control, that all security oaths related to such projects are null and void. The letter stated that, UNLESS OTHERWISE DIRECTED, that this assessment would be regarded as accurate and that all such government witnesses would be free to speak openly as of 1 January 1997. This letter was sent to, and acknowledgement of receipt has been obtained, from: President Bill Clinton Vice-President Al Gore National Security Advisor Tony Lake Secretary of Defense William Perry Secretary of State Warren Christopher Director of Central Intelligence John Deutsch Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Shalikashvili Chairman Senate Intelligence Committee Arlen Specter Chairman House Intelligence Committee Larry Combast Chairman Senate Armed Services Committee Strom Thurmond Chairman House National Security Committee Floyd Spence Director of NASA Daniel Goldin FBI Director Louis Freeh Attorney General Janet Reno Additionally, this document has been sent to the US Supreme Court and acknowledgement of receipt is pending. The letter is attached to this file. Numerous background and position papers were enclosed with this letter, including a detailed listing of agencies, entities, corporations, and covert facilities associated with the UFO/ET subject. The UNLESS OTHERWISE DIRECTED (UNOD) format is routinely used in governmental and military situations and indicates that unless otherwise instructed, the position and described actions are approved implicitly. This letter clearly stated that we intend to assemble as many bona fide government officials and witnesses as possible, and that they will speak publicly and openly about their knowledge of UFO/ET events and covert projects. Since the letter was issued, senior and reliable intelligence sources have stated that no response or interference would be forthcoming vis a vis plans for government witnesses to publicly come forward with their testimony. Significantly, as of 1 January 1997, no government entity, official, agency, department or office has contradicted this assessment or stated that such government witnesses are any longer bound to silence. CSETI Director Dr. Steven Greer has been meeting with various government officials, including members of the US Congress (House and Senate) to discuss this matter and ask for open hearings on the subject of UFOs/ETI. In preparation for these disclosures,and in light of the expiration of the above deadline, a meeting of such military, intelligence, government and corporate witnesses will be held later this winter. Bona fide witnesses, or contacts to such witnesses, should contact Dr. Steven Greer immediately concerning participation in this event. A similar, but smaller, event was organized by CSETI in 1995, and was attended by US Astronauts, US and Russian military officials and others. The meeting this winter will assemble a significant number of such government UFO witnesses to meet with congressional and other public officials and to request open hearings within the Congress, so that they may testify openly about their knowledge and experiences related to UFOs/ETI. Should Congress not agree to open hearings, other venues, such as the United Nations or a private disclosure event, will be pursued to effect a publc acknowledgement of the reality of UFOs/ETI. This notice may be distributed freely among all newsgroups, media and interested parties, without further permission or restrictions. CSETI 1 January 1997 Steven M. Greer M.D., Director 704-274-5671; Fax: 704-274-6766 ******************************************************************* FROM: Steven M. Greer M.D., Director of CSETI RE: UFO Military/Government Witnesses 15 November 1996 To: President William Jefferson Clinton Vice President Al Gore National Security Advisor Tony Lake Secretary of Defense William Perry Secretary of State Warren Christopher DCI John Deutch General Shalikashvili, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Mr. Arlen Specter, Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee Mr. Larry Combast, Chairman, House Intelligence Committee Mr. Strom Thurmond, Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee Mr. Floyd Spence, Chairman, House National Security Committee Dr. Daniel Goldin, Director of NASA FBI Director Louis Freeh Attorney General Janet Reno From: Steven M. Greer M.D., Director of CSETI RE: Planned Disclosure on the UFO/Extraterrestrial Subject and National Security Oaths The CSETI (Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Project Starlight initiative has now identified several dozen former and current military, intelligence and defense contractor related witnesses to UFO/ETI events and projects. As set out in a number of documents and briefings (see enclosures) it is our intention to have these important witnesses provide open, public testimony on this matter in the very near future. In the summer of 1995, we requested that the President take appropriate steps to allow these witnesses to speak openly, without civil, military or other penalties. Since then, there has been an exponential growth in the number of such witnesses who wish to come forward. Some of them are elderly, and suffering from serious medical conditions. We feel that these patriotic and courageous heros of our country - who very much wish to tell their fellow citizens the truth on this matter- must not take this information to their graves. Therefore, we are asking from you a clear determination regarding their freedom to speak openly on this subject. Over the past three years, we have found that members of Congress, the Executive Branch, military and intelligence leaders have not been briefed on this important matter, and that operations related to the subject exist as 'unacknowledged' special access projects. Most operations exist in the private aspects of the military industrial sector, with apparently extra-constitutional funding and oversight. As such, and until established otherwise to our satisfaction, we regard these operations, and all so-called 'security oaths' derived from them, as illegal, and therefore non-binding for these witnesses mentioned above. Therefore, UNLESS OTHERWISE DIRECTED BY 1 JANUARY 1997, we will move forward with a series of events whereby these witnesses may provide open, public testimony. If we do not hear from you, or if we hear that you concur, we will proceed with a public disclosure after that date. Only if you notify us specifically that such witnesses to UFO/ETI related matters are still bound to silence will our plans for a disclosure by them be altered. As mentioned in previous briefings and documents to members of the Administration, the military, the Congress and others, it is our intent to effect this disclosure in a way which is scientific, forward looking and hopeful. It is not our intent to cause instability for our nation or the world, but , rather , to mitigate the clear dangers which current covert management of this issue presents. We invite your advice, assistance and support in this process of disclosure on a matter which is arguably the most important of the twentieth and early twenty first centuries. Testimony from these witnesses will include but not be limited to: >Retrieval of disabled extraterrestrial devices and extraterrestrial life forms >Reverse-engineering projects related to extraterrestrial technology >Reconnaissance and tracking of UFO/Extraterrestrial vehicles >Covert projects related to the subject >Confirmation of military/UFO encounter cases >The nature and scope of disinformation programs related to the subject We hope to hear from you regarding this matter as soon as possible. Thank you for your attention to this request for a determination on the status of these witnesses as it relates to providing public testimony during 1997. Respectfully, Steven M. Greer M.D. Director of CSETI Email: 103275.1472@compuserve.com enclosures ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V6 #1 ******************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@pmihwy.com". 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. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to either "skunk-works-digest-owner@pmihwy.com" or, if you don't like to type a lot, "georgek@netwrx1.com". A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for e-mail request by sending a message to majordomo@pmihwy.com with no subject and a line containing "get skunk-works-digest vNN.nMMM" (where "NN" is the volume number, and "MMM" is the issue number). You can get a list of all available digests by sending the one line command "index skunk-works-digest". If you have any questions or problems please contact me at: georgek@netwrx1.com Thanks, George R, Kasica