Background of the HAARP Project Source: Earthpulse Press http://www.earthpulse.com
Military interest in space became intense during and
after World War II because of the introduction of rocket science, the
companion to nuclear technology. The early versions include the buzz
bomb and guided missiles. They were thought of as potential carriers
of both nuclear and conventional bombs.
Rocket technology and nuclear weapon technology
developed simultaneously between 1945 and 1963. During this time of
intensive atmospheric nuclear testing, explosions at various levels
above and below the surface of the earth were attempted. Some of the
now familiar descriptions of the earth's protective atmosphere, such
as the existence of the Van Allen belts, were based on information
gained through stratospheric and ionospheric experimentation.
The earth's atmosphere consists of the troposphere, from
sea level to about 16 km above the earth's surface; the stratosphere
(which contains the ozone level) which extends from about the 16 to 48
km above the earth; and the ionosphere which extends from 48 km to
over 50,000 km above the surface of the earth.
The earth's protective atmosphere or "skin" extends
beyond 3,200 km above sea level to the large magnetic fields, called
the Van Allen Belts, which can capture the charged particles sprayed
through the cosmos by the solar and galactic winds. These belts were
discovered in 1958 during the first weeks of the operation of
America's first satellite, Explorer I. They appear to contain charged
particles trapped in the earth's gravity and magnetic fields. Primary
galactic
cosmic rays enter the solar system from interstellar space, and are
made up of protons with energies above 100 MeV, extending up to
astronomically high energies. They make up about 100 percent of the
high energy rays. Solar rays are generally of lower energy, below 20
MeV (which is still high energy in earth terms). These high energy
particles are affected by the earth's magnetic field and by
geomagnetic latitude (distance above or below the geomagnetic
equator). The flux density of low energy protons at the top of the
atmosphere is normally greater at the poles than at the equator. The
density also varies with solar activity, being at a minimum when solar
flares are at a minimum.
The Van Allen belts capture charged particles (protons,
electrons and alpha particles) and these spiral along the magnetic
force lines toward the polar regions where the force lines converge.
They are reflected back and forth between the magnetic force lines
near the poles. The lower Van Allen Belt is about 7700 km above the
earth's surface, and the outer Van Allen Belt is about 51,500 km above
the surface. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Van Allen
belts are most intense along the equator, and effectively absent over
the
poles. They dip to 400 km over the South Atlantic Ocean, and are about
1,000 km high over the Central Pacific Ocean. In the lower Van Allen
Belt, the proton intensity is about 20,000 particles with energy above
30 MeV per second per square centimeter. Electrons reach a maximum
energy of 1 MeV, and their intensity has a maximum of 100 million per
second per square centimeter. In the outer Belt, proton energy
averages only 1 MeV. For compar-ison, most charged particles
discharged in a nuclear explosion range between 0.3 and 3 MeV, while
diagnostic medical X-ray has peak voltage around 0.5 MeV.
Project Argus (1958)
Between August and September 1958, the US Navy exploded
three fission type nuclear bombs 480 km above the South Atlantic
Ocean, in the part of the lower Van Allen Belt closest to the earth's
surface. In addition, two hydrogen bombs were detonated 160 km over
Johnston Island in the Pacific. The military called this "the biggest
scientific experiment ever undertaken." It was designed by the US
Department of Defense and the US Atomic Energy Commission, under the
code name Project Argus. The purpose appears to be to assess the
impact of high altitude nuclear explosions on radio transmission and
radar operations because of the electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and to
increase understanding of the geomagnetic field and the behavior of
the charged particles in it.
This gigantic experiment created new (inner) magnetic
radiation belts encompassing almost the whole earth, and injected
sufficient electrons and other energetic particles into the ionosphere
to cause world wide effects. The electrons traveled back and forth
along magnetic force lines, causing an artificial "aurora" when
striking the atmosphere near the North Pole.
The US Military planned to create a "telecommunications
shield" in the ionosphere, reported in 13-20 August 1961, Keesings
Historisch Archief (K.H.A.). This shield would be created "in the
ionosphere at 3,000 km height, by bringing into orbit 350,000 million
copper needles, each
2-4 cm long [total weight 16 kg], forming a belt 10 km thick and 40 km
wide, the needles spaced about 100 m apart." This was designed to
replace the ionosphere "because telecommunications are impaired by
magnetic storms and solar flares." The US planned to add to the number
of copper needles if the experiment proved to be successful. This plan
was strongly opposed by the Intentional Union of Astronomers.
Project Starfish (1962)
On July 9, 1962, the US began a further series of
experiments with the ionosphere. From their description: "one kiloton
device, at a height of 60 km and one megaton and one multi-megaton, at
several hundred kilometers height" (K.H.A., 29 June 1962). These tests
seriously disturbed the lower Van Allen Belt, substantially altering
its shape and intensity. "In this experiment the inner Van Allen Belt
will be practically destroyed for a period of time; particles from the
Belt will be transported to the atmosphere. It is anticipated that the
earth's magnetic field will be disturbed over long distances for
several hours, preventing radio communication. The explosion in the
inner radiation belt will create an artificial dome of polar light
that will be visible from Los Angeles" (K.H.A. 11 May 1962). A Fijian
Sailor, present at this nuclear explosion, told me that the whole sky
was on fire and he thought it would be the end of the world. This was
the experiment which called forth the strong protest of the Queen's
Astronomer, Sir Martin Ryle in the UK.
"The ionosphere [according to the under-standing at that
time] that part of the atmosphere between 65 and 80 km and 280- 320 km
height, will be disrupted by mechanical forces caused by the pressure
wave following the explosion. At the same time, large quantities of
ionizing radiation will be released, further ionizing the gaseous
components of the atmosphere at this height. This ionization effect is
strengthened by the radiation from the fission products... The lower
Van Allen Belt, consisting of charged particles that move along the
geomagnetic field lines... will similarly be disrupted. As a result of
the explosion, this field will be locally destroyed, while countless
new electrons will be introduced into the lower belt" (K.H.A. 11 May
1962). "On 19 July... NASA announced that as a consequence of the high
altitude nuclear test of July 9, a new radiation belt had been formed,
stretching from a height of about 400 km to 1600 km; it can be seen as
a temporary extension of the lower Van Allen Belt" (K.H.A. 5 August
1962).
As explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica: "...
Starfish made a much wider belt [than Project Argus] that extends from
low altitude out past L=3 [i.e. three earth radiuses or about 13,000
km above the surface of the earth]." Later in 1962, the USSR undertook
similar planetary experiments, creating three new radiation belts
between 7,000 and 13,000 km above the earth. According to the
Encyclopedia, the electron fluxes in the lower Van Allen Belt have
changed markedly
since the 1962 high- altitude nuclear explosions by the US and USSR,
never returning to their former state. According to American
scientists, it could take many hundreds of years for the Van Allen
Belts to destabilize at their normal levels. (Research done by: Nigel
Harle, Borderland Archives, Cortenbachstraat 32, 6136 CH Sittard,
Netherlands.)
SPS: Solar Power Satellite Project (1968)
In 1968 the US military proposed Solar Powered Satellites in
geostationary orbit some 40,000 km above the earth, which would
intercept solar radiation using solar cells on satellites and transmit
it via a microwave beam to receiving antennas, called rectennas, on
earth. The US Congress mandated the Department of Energy and NASA to
prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment on this project, to be
completed by June 1980, and costing $25 Million. This project was
designed to construct 60 Solar Powered Satellites over a thirty year
period at a cost between $500 and $800 thousand million (in 1968
dollars), providing 100 percent of the US energy needs in the year
2025 at a cost of $3000 per kW. At that time, the project cost was two
to three times larger than the whole Department of Energy budget, and
the projected cost of the electricity was well above the cost of most
conventional energy sources. The rectenna sites on earth were expected
to take up to 145 square kilometers of land, and would preclude
habitation by any humans, animals or even vegetation. Each Satellite
was to be the size of Manhattan Island.
Saturn V Rocket (1975)
Due to a malfunction, the Saturn V Rocket burned
unusually high in the atmosphere, above 300 km. This burn produced "a
large ionospheric hole" (Mendillo, M. Et al., Science p. 187, 343,
1975). The disturbance reduced the total electron content more than
60% over an area 1,000 km in radius, and lasted for several hours. It
prevented all telecommunications over a large area of the Atlantic
Ocean. The
phenomenon was apparently caused by a reaction between the exhaust
gases and ionospheric oxygen ions. The reaction emitted a 6300 A
airglow. Between 1975 and 1981 NASA and the US Military began to
design ways to test this new phenomena through deliberate
experimentation with the ionosphere.
SPS Military Implications (1978)
Early review of the Solar Powered Satellite Project
began in around 1978, and I was on the review panel. Although this was
proposed as an energy program, it had significant military
implications. One of the most significant, first pointed out by
Michael J. Ozeroff, was the possibility of developing a
satellite-borne beam weapon for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) use. The
satellites were to be in geosynchronous orbits, each providing an
excellent vantage point from which an entire hemisphere can be
surveyed continuously. It was speculated that a high-energy laser beam
could function as a thermal weapon to disable or destroy enemy
missiles. There was some discussion of electron weapon beams, through
the use of a laser beam to preheat a path for the following electron
beam.
The SPS was also described as a psychological and anti-
personnel weapon, which could be directed toward an enemy. If the main
microwave beam was redirected away from its rectenna, toward enemy
personnel, it could use an infrared radiation wave- length (invisible)
as an anti-personnel weapon. It might also be possible to transmit
high enough energy to ignite combustible materials. Laser beam power
relays could be made from the SPS satellite to other satellites or
platforms,
for example aircraft, for military purposes. One application might be
a laser powered turbofan engine which would receive the laser beam
directly in its combustion chamber, producing the required high
temperature gas for its cruising operation. This would allow unlimited
on-station cruise time. As a psychological weapon, the SPS was capable
of causing general panic
The SPS would be able to transmit power to remote
military operations anywhere needed on earth. The manned platform of
the SPS would provide surveillance and early warning capability, and
ELF linkage to submarines. It would also provide the capability of
jamming enemy communications. The potential for jamming and creating
communications is significant. The SPS was also capable of causing
physical changes in the ionosphere
President Carter approved the SPS Project and gave it a
go- ahead, in spite of the reservation which many reviewers, myself
included, expressed. Fortunately, it was so expensive, exceeding the
entire Department of Energy budget, that funding was denied by the
Congress. I approached the United Nations Committee on Disarmament on
this project, but was told that as long as the program was called
Solar Energy by the United States, it could not be considered a
weapons project. The same project resurfaced in the US under President
Reagan. He moved it to the much larger budget of the Department of
Defense and called it Star Wars. Since this is more recent history, I
will not discuss the debate which raged over this phase of the plan.
By 1978, it was apparent to the US Military that
communications in a nuclear hostile environment would not be possible
using traditional methods of radio and television technology (Jane's
Military Communications 1978). By 1982, GTE Sylvania (Needham Heights,
Massachusetts) had developed a command control electronic sub-system
for the US Air Force's Ground Launch Cruise Missiles (GLCM) that would
enable military commanders to monitor and control the missile prior to
launch both in hostile and non-hostile environments. The system
contains six radio subsystems, created with visible light using a dark
beam (not visible) and is resistant to the disruptions experienced by
radio and television. Dark beams contribute to the formation of
energetic plasma in the atmosphere. This plasma can become visible as
smog or fog. Some has a different charge than the sun's energy, and
accumulates in places where the sun's energy is absent, like the polar
regions in the winter. When the polar spring occurs, the sun appears
and repels this plasma, contributing to holes in the ozone layer. This
military system is called: Ground Wave Emergency Network (GWEN). (See
The SECOMII Communication System, by Wayne Olsen, SAND 78- 0391,
Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 1978.) This
innovative emergency radio system was apparently never implemented in
Europe, and exists only in North America.
Orbit Maneuvering System (1981)
Part of the plan to build the SPS space platforms was
the demand for reusable space shuttles, since they could not afford to
keep discarding rockets. The NASA Spacelab 3 Mission of the Space
Shuttle made, in 1981, "a series of passes over a network of five
ground based observatories" in order to study what happened to the
ionosphere when the Shuttle injected gases into it from the Orbit
Maneuvering System (OMS). They discovered that they could "induce
ionospheric holes" and began to experiment with holes made in the
daytime, or at night over
Millstone, Connecticut, and Arecibo, Puerto Rico. They experimented
with the effects of "artificially induced ionospheric depletions on
very low frequency wave lengths, on equatorial plasma instabilities,
and on low frequency radio astronomical observations over Roberval,
Quebec, Kwajelein, in the Marshall Islands and Hobart, Tasmania"
(Advanced Space Research, Vo1.8, No. 1, 1988).
Innovative Shuttle Experiments (1985)
An innovative use of the Space Shuttle to perform space
physics experiments in earth orbit was launched, using the OMS
injections of gases to "cause a sudden depletion in the local plasma
concentration, the creation of a so called ionospheric hole." This
artificially induced plasma depletion can then be used to investigate
other space phenomena, such as the growth of the plasma instabilities
or the modification of radio propagation paths. The 47 second OMS burn
of July 29, 1985, produced the largest and most long-lived ionospheric
hole to date, dumping some 830 kg of exhaust into the ionosphere at
sunset. A 6 second, 68 km OMS release above Connecticut in August
1985, produced an airglow which covered over 400,000 square km.
During the 1980's, rocket launches globally numbered
about 500 to 600 a year, peaking at 1500 in 1989. There were many more
during the Gulf War. The Shuttle is the largest of the solid fuel
rockets, with twin 45 meter boosters. All solid fuel rockets release
large amounts of hydrochloric acid in their exhaust, each Shuttle
flight injecting about 75 tons of ozone destroying chlorine into the
stratosphere. Those launched since 1992 inject even more
ozone-destroying chlorine, about 187 tons, into the stratosphere
(which contains the ozone layer).
Mighty Oaks (1986)
In April 1986, just before the Chernobyl disaster, the
US had a failed hydrogen test at the Nevada Test Site called Mighty
Oaks. This test, conducted far underground, consisted of a hydrogen
bomb explosion in one chamber, with a leaded steel door to the
chamber, two meters thick, closing within milliseconds of the blast.
The door was to allow only the first radioactive beam to escape into
the "control room" in which expensive instrumentation was located. The
radiation was to be
captured as a weapon beam. The door failed to close as quickly as
planned, causing the radioactive gases and debris to fill the control
room, destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment. The
experiment was part of a program to develop X-ray and particle beam
weapons. The radioactive releases from Mighty Oaks were vented, under
a "licensed venting" and were likely responsible for many of the North
American nuclear fallout reports in May 1986, which were attributed to
the Chernobyl disaster.
Desert Storm (1991)
According to Defense News, April 13 - 19, 1992, the US
deployed an electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP) in Desert Storm,
designed to mimic the flash of electricity from a nuclear bomb. The
Sandia National Laboratory had built a 23,000 square meter laboratory
on the Kirkland Air Force Base, 1989, to house the Hermes II electron
beam generator capable of producing 20 Trillion Watt pulses lasting 20
billionths to 25 billionths of a second. This X-ray simulator is
called a Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator. A stream of electrons
hitting a metal plate can produce a pulsed X-ray or gamma ray. Hermes
II had produced
electron beams since 1974. These devises were apparently tested during
the Gulf War, although detailed information on them is sparse.
High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, HAARP
(1993) The HAARP Program is jointly managed by the US Air Force and
the US Navy, and is based in Gakona, Alaska. It is designed to
"understand, simulate and control ionospheric processes that might
alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems." The
HAARP system intends to beam 3.6 Gigawatts of effective radiated power
of high frequency radio energy into the ionosphere in order to:
Generate extremely low frequency (ELF) waves for
communicating with submerged submarines Conduct geophysical probes to
identify and characterize natural ionospheric processes so that
techniques can be developed to mitigate or control them Generate
ionospheric lenses to focus large amounts of high frequency energy,
thus providing a means of triggering ionospheric processes that
potentially could be exploited for Department of Defense purposes,
Electron acceleration for infrared (IR) and other optical emissions
which could be used to control radio wave propagation properties
Generate geomagnetic field aligned ionization to control the
reflection/scattering properties of radio waves, Use oblique heating
to produce effects on radio wave propagation, thus broadening the
potential military applications of ionospheric enhancement technology.
Poker Flat Rocket Launch (1968 to Present) The Poker Flat Research
Range is located about 50 km North of Fairbanks, Alaska, and it was
established in 1968. It is operated by the Geophysical Institute with
the University of Alaska Fairbanks,
under NASA contract. About 250 major rocket launches have taken place
from this site, and in 1994, a 16 meter long rocket was launched to
help NASA "understand chemical reactions in the atmosphere associated
with global climate change." Similar experiments, but using Chemical
Release Modules (CRM), have been launched from Churchill, Manitoba. In
1980, Brian Whelan's "Project Waterhole" disrupted an aurora borealis,
bringing it to a temporary halt. In February 1983, the chemical
released into the ionosphere caused an aurora borealis over Churchill.
In March 1989, two Black Brant X's and two Nike Orion rockets were
launched over Canada, releasing barium at high altitudes and creating
artificial clouds. These Churchill artificial clouds were observed
from as far away as Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The US Navy has also been carrying on High Power Auroral
Stimulation (HIPAS) research in Alaska. Through a series of wires and
a 15 meter antenna, they have beamed high intensity signals into the
upper atmosphere, generating a controlled disturbance in the
ionosphere. As early as 1992, the Navy talked of creating 10 kilometer
long antennas in the sky to generate extremely low frequency (ELF)
waves needed for communicating with submarines. Another purpose of
these experiments is to study the Aurora Borealis, called by some an
outdoor plasma lab for studying the principles of fusion. Shuttle
flights are now able to generate auroras with an electron beam. On
November 10, 1991, and aurora borealis appeared in the Texas sky for
the first time ever recorded, and it was seen by people as far away as
Ohio and Utah, Nebraska and Missouri. The sky contained "Christmas
colors" and various scientists were quick to blame it on solar
activity. However, when pressed most would admit that the ionosphere
must have been weakened at the time, so that the electrically charged
particle hitting the earth's atmosphere created the highly visible
light called airglow. These charged particles are normally pulled
northwards by the
earth's magnetic forces, to the magnetic north pole. The Northern
Lights, as the aurora borealis is called, normally occurs in the
vortex at the pole where the energetic particles, directed by the
magnetic force lines, are directed.
Conclusions
It would be rash to assume that HAARP is an isolated
experiment which would not be expanded. It is related to fifty years
of intensive and increasingly destructive programs to understand and
control the upper atmosphere.
It would be rash not to associate HAARP with the space
laboratory construction which is separately being planned by the
United States. HAARP is an integral part of a long history of space
research and development of a deliberate military nature.
The military implications of combining these projects is
alarming.
Basic to this project is control of communications, both
disruption and reliability in hostile environments. The power wielded
by such control is obvious.
The ability of the HAARP / Spacelab/ rocket combination
to deliver very large amount of energy, comparable to a nuclear bomb,
anywhere on earth via laser and particle beams, are frightening.
The project is likely to be "sold" to the public as a
space shield against incoming weapons, or, for the more gullible, a
devise for repairing the ozone layer.
Further References:
C.L. Herzenberg, Physics and Society, April 1994.
R. Williams, Physics and Society, April 1988.
B. Eastlund, Microwave News, May/June 1994.
W. Kofinan and C. Lathuillere, Geophysical Research
Letters, Vol 14, No. 11, pp 1158-1161, November 1987 (Includes French
experiments at EISCAT).
G. Metz and F.W. Perkins. Ionospheric Modification
Theory: Past Present and Future, Radio Science, Vo1.9, No. 11, pp
885 -888, November 1974.
Prepared by Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., GNSH
©1996 - 1999