-Caveat Lector- http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/sci/9907STRSP.html HAARP: PROBING THE NORTHERN LIGHTS BY JIM WILSON The single most contentious question in science at the end of the 20th century isn't about evolution, the origin of the universe or human cloning, but, "What is the government really up to near Gakona, Alaska?" Officially, this 33-acre gravel pad near the Tok Highway 180 miles northeast of Anchorage is the home of the high-frequency active auroral research program (HAARP). Depending upon who you ask for a more detailed description, HAARP is either a futuristic weapon, a scientific research project, a global mind control scheme�rivaling network TV�or the cause of a reptilian invasion from another dimension. In addition to its real functions�which we will get to in a moment�HAARP has replaced the magic-pellet gasoline substitute as the great techno-legend of our time. (The magic pellet, by the way, is actually calcium carbide. It reacts with water to produce acetylene that will fuel an internal combustion engine, at least until the corrosive exhaust eats through the cylinder walls.) HAARP is not quite as easy to explain as magic fuel pellets. Part of the reason is that it is involved in a fairly complicated area of research. Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, it houses what is perhaps the most impressive collection of ionosphere research instruments ever assembled. If you are a physicist who explores this region 25 to 500 miles above sea level, you couldn't ask for a better-equipped lab. So large an investment in so remote a location logically raises the question: Why? For the same reason that Willie Sutton hung out around banks. Because of its far northerly latitude�well into northern lights country�Gakona is an excellent vantage point for studying the ionosphere. We sit at the bottom of a gaseous sea of dense, electrically neutral gases. This familiar situation changes as we rise into the sky. At higher altitudes, the air becomes less dense. This means the radiation from the sun has less atmosphere to penetrate. Being more energetic, it strips gas molecules of their electrons, turning them into the ions for which this region is named, the ionosphere. The presence of ions and electrons in this layer causes electromagnetic radiation from man-made sources to be absorbed, reflected and distorted. The absorptive and reflective characteristics of the ionosphere are the reason why amplitude-modulated radio broadcasts that can be heard within only a few tens of miles from their transmitters during the day can be heard thousands of miles away at night. The ionosphere's ability to distort signals can produce effects that are downright spooky. Consider the "Luxembourg effect," which sent shivers down the spines of international radio listeners in 1933. "In this case a weak Swiss radio station appeared to be modulated with signals from the powerful Luxembourg station, which was transmitting at a completely different frequency. Music from the Luxembourg station was picked up at the frequency of the Swiss station," explains a Department of Defense (DOD) spokesman. The Pentagon isn't interested in explaining mysteries from the early days of radio. "The continual growth in the number of civilian and military satellite systems whose performance depends on paths passing through the ionosphere, encourages not only good characterization and monitoring of the ionospheric state, but also an examination of what controlled local modification of the ionosphere, using ground [high-frequency] transmitters, could do for and to these systems," says the DOD. HAARP Science Creating that "controlled local modification of the ionosphere" is what the HAARP project is all about. To do this, HAARP team researchers are using a high-power, high-frequency phased array radio transmitter known as the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) to heat pockets of the ionosphere. It will do this by transmitting a narrow beam of high-power radio signals in the 2.8- to 10-MHz frequency range. The antennas needed to beam this energy are enormous. Sitting on a gravel pad, they cover 33 acres with 180 72-ft. towers. The towers are spaced 80 ft. apart, forming a rectangular grid (see photo above). Each tower supports two pairs of crossed dipole antennas. One antenna is tuned to transmit at between 2.8 and 7 MHz. Its companion transmitter at between 7 and 10 MHz. An elevated ground screen acts as a reflector. It is raised about 15 ft. off the ground to allow truck access to 30 transmitter shelters. According to DOD documents, each contains six pairs of 10-kilowatt transmitters. Operating together, they deliver 3600 kilowatts to the antenna network. The signal transmitted from the network of antennas travels upward and is partially absorbed. This heats a pocket of air about 30 miles in diameter and a few hundred yards thick directly over the facility. The remainder of the signal is either reflected back to Earth or continues to travel through the ionosphere and then into space, diverging like the beam of a flashlight. By the time it reaches the ionosphere, signal strength is hundreds of times less than the variations in intensity of the sun's natural ultraviolet energy. After HAARP researchers zap the sky, they look at it. The chief tool for determining the effect of this energy release is an ultrahigh-frequency incoherent scatter radar, which measures electron densities, electron and ion temperatures, and Doppler velocities in the natural ionosphere and in IRI stimulated regions. Radios, magnetic field measurement devices, light detection and ranging instruments, and optical and infrared spectrometers and cameras round out the instrument package. The researchers are not the only ones who can tune into HAARP. During a recent test in which a Morse code message was transmitted at 6.990 MHz, reception was reported by short-wave listeners as far away as Australia and Japan. Beyond learning about the effects of solar activity on radio broadcasts, HAARP may also give us new insights into the Earth. By coupling its receivers with high-speed computers, it may be possible to create what is essentially a CAT scan of the planet. Among other things, this could make it possible to detect underground nuclear explosions set off in violation of test ban agreements. With HAARP only now coming online at full power, it may be several years before it begins living up to its scientific potential. HAARP Myths There is, however, one area where HAARP has already made itself into the record books. Like the HAARP signal, criticism of the project can also be heard around the world. HAARP's more responsible critics want the project shut down because of widely acknowledged uncertainties about the effects of exposure to radio frequency energy to people near the transmitters. HAARP managers claim the installation is safe. In time, this issue will be resolved one way or the other. The HAARP myths may not be so easily dealt with. Like most they are partially based in fact. An electromagnetic wave missile-killing system was once proposed for the area, but never built. And HAARP is also the site of an unbuilt over-the-horizon radar installation. These connections have provided more than sufficient grist for the talk-radio/Internet conspiracy mill. My personal favorite is a hoax fax to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that claims the accidental shutdown of a HAARP transmitter created a space-time rift, that allowed reptilian creatures from another dimension to invade upstate New York. If you buy that one, you probably believe the century's second-best techno-legend, too�the one that claims Bill Gates always flies coach. ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. 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