Did you guys invent the Internet too? Terry, I like your theory better. On Friday, February 22, 2013, James Bowery wrote:
> Before I get into talking about the delightful coincidence of February 15, > 2013 between the close Earth flyby of an asteroid and the largest meteor > entry to Earth's atmosphere in over a century -- both at mutually > independent vectors -- I want to talk a little about another delightful > coincidence: > > While working at Science Applications International Corporoation's > Roselle St. offices in Sorrento Valley of La Jolla, > CA<https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=saic+san+diego,+ca&fb=1&gl=us&hq=saic&hnear=0x80d9530fad921e4b:0xd3a21fdfd15df79,San+Diego,+CA&ei=8L0nUZuLGsjZrAHRuoHQDQ&ved=0CKMBELYD&iwloc=cids:2698751337000512967> > during > the Reagan administration's "Star Wars" project, I would frequently receive > mail addressed to a prior occupant of my office there: Peter Vajk. You > might recall Peter Vajk as the author of "Doomsday Has Been > Cancelled<http://www.amazon.com/Doomsday-been-cancelled-Peter-Vajk/dp/0915238241>" > in which he modified the Club of Rome's dynamical global model to > incorporate non-terrestrial resources. In 1974, I wrote the first > multiplayer 3D virtual reality (first person shooter) game called > "spasim<http://web.archive.org/web/20070419202019/http://www.geocities.com/jim_bowery/spasim.html>" > in which I concocted a set of differential equations doing a mock up of the > Club of Rome's model and the major theme of the game was the acquisition of > nonterrestrial resources to keep the plant's population from going into > revolt over terrestrial limits to growth. Vajk did his first work in this > area in 1975. Oh but the delightful coincidence doesn't end there, because > every day on my way to the industrial assembly area next door where I was > managing the production of control software for an automated ordnance > inspection system, I would walk past the Strategic Defense Initiative bays > where, among other things, there were some rather impressive structures, > presumably intended for orbital operation such as a very light-weight but > powerful Van de Graaff generator intended to power who-knows-what. > > I bring up this delightful coincidence because my early involvement with > Gerard > O'Neill's Space Studies Institute <http://ssi.org/> as Senior Associate > 401 (right behind Ronald Reagan's membership number of 400) made me aware > of an apparent disconnect between the DoE's solar power satellite studies > and those of the non-terrestrial materials strategy popularized by O'Neill > and Vajk: Not one of the studies of solar power satellites conducted by > the major players such as the DoE even attempted a critical assessment of > non-terrestrial materials studies. The citations were content-free > dismissals. While we can chalk this up to a variety of bureaucratic > characteristics, including conservatism or more simply bureaucratic > stupidity, the events of February 15, 2013 lead me to suspect something > more. > > I had a bit of a hostile encounter with an old man who showed up at a > space development conference in 1983 in San Francisco where I was > representing Space Studies Institute and had designed their booth. Part of > the booth was the book "The High > Frontier<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Frontier:_Human_Colonies_in_Space>" > by Gerard O'Neill sitting next to the book "High > Frontier<http://www.amazon.com/High-Frontier-Daniel-O-Graham/dp/0523480784>" > by Gen. Daniel Graham. Above the two books I had a sign that said "The > Real Thing" and "Cheap Imitation" respectively. The old man walked up, his > finger shaking in rage at the book by Gen. Daniel Graham and said, "This > book could save this county!" I merely looked at him and told him that > O'Neill's book had come out before Graham's and that Graham's didn't focus > on the economics. The old man, still shaking, asked "Do you know who I > am?" as he opened Graham's book and pointed to the name of the person who > wrote the preface: "Robert Heinlein" at which point I merely looked him in > the eye and said nothing with an expression saying "...and?..." He added, > "There is no copyright on book title." I told him that Space Studies > Institute had service marked ¨High Frontier" and that Graham had used it > without permission. Heinlein then said simply, "I don't believe you." and > walked off in a huff. > > Heinlein, as you may recall from "The Moon is a Harsh > Mistress<http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/revolutionarystoolkit/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress.pdf>", > described a space-based kinetic energy weapon which, although of limited > capacity, was of sufficient capacity to bluff a super power into submission. > > Just one more thing before I get to the events of February 15, 2013: > > A private company has now formed called "Planetary > Resources<http://www.planetaryresources.com/>" > which is enjoying not only a lot of positive press, but substantial > and prestigious financing and they are utilizing declassified spy satellite > technology to prospect for Earth-approaching asteroids. As you are well > aware, spy satellites technology has been far more advanced for a far > longer time than has been openly acknowledged -- except perhaps by rumor -- > and it is certainly the case that these technologies were being > dramatically advanced and deployed during the Reagan administration. > > So, now WHAT IF: > > The limited military utility of tactical nuclear weapons was seen as > mitigated by using kinetic energy weapons of similar yield? > > The use of space-based kinetic energy weapons of high yield could be > plausibly denied as "acts of god" only so long as the existence of such a > weapons program was kept so secret that not even rumors of its existence > leaked? > > The potential value of such a plausibly-deniable, non-nuclear weapon > system -- with potential high impact propaganda "Acts of God" on > populations such as Islamics or American Christian Zionists -- was so great > as to motivate massive military black project investment as early as the > Reagan Administration if not the 70s? > > The spy satellite technologies were, during this era, turned toward a > comprehensive assay of low delta-v asteroids, including large meteoroids > for use in such weapons? > > The Department of Energy, being intimately involved in the execution of > nuclear weapons policy, might have a conflict of interest in accurately > reporting the potential of nonterrestrial materials in the construction of > solar power satellites, as space-based kinetic energy weapons using > nonterrestrial materials were being developed? > > The near-earth flyby of the asteroid, now called 2012 DA14, was actually > known well in advance of the amateurs -- indeed long enough in advance that > a much smaller meteor could be vectored into a shallow-angle atmospheric > entry over Russia to coincide with the asteroid flyby? > > Perhaps without even any control over 2012 DA2012, the motive of > concocting such a coincidence would be to telegraph a message to > intelligence agencies that "You will notice we sent the asteroid's little > brother in a controlled shallow-angle entry. Think what we could have > done? Notice, also, how we've made your politicians who posit a US weapon > system look like baffoons -- we still possess plausible deniability hiding > behind an "act of God" propaganda." This has the Heinleinesque feature > that it may be a bluff based on a very limited capacity to actually deliver > such kinetic energy weapons from nonterrestrial resources -- a limit that > would be very very difficult for adversaries to place reasonable error bars > on. > > Finally, I'd point out that John Pike, as recently as 2004, was quoted in > Popular Science <http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god>as > saying that a space-based kinetic energy kill weapon called "God's Rod" > was unfeasible because of the high launch costs from earth. John Pike, as > I recall from the Reagan Administration era, was the same guy who was > referred to as "the expert" by popular press accounts of the > unfeasibility of solar power satellites due to launch costs. > > If, as I posit, there already existed a space-based kinetic energy weapon > utilizing nonterrestrial resources at the time John Pike wrote his > dismissal, why would anyone be interested in developing a weapon like > "God's Rod"? Well, perhaps they aren't really interested in it.... perhaps > it is just a diversion/cover On the other hand, there is a very good > reason for wanting a weapon like "God's Rod" over a kinetic energy weapon > that requires years of set up time for targeting: > > Tactical, as opposed to strategic, utility. > > > PS: There is also the delightful coincidence of my walking into Memex > Corp <http://www.stanford.edu/group/htgg/cgi-bin/drupal/?q=node/1145>. > for the first time and having the 3-way exchange between Gary Olsen, Keith > Henson and myself of "What are YOU doing here???" as we had all known each > other for 15 years as being leaders of the nonterrestrial materials use > advocacy culture. >
