Ground-Based 'Star Wars' - Disaster
Or 'Pure' Research? Reprinted from Earthpulse Flashpoints, Newtext Number
Three
Earthpulse Press http://www.earthpulse.com
"The earth is delicately balanced, and seeks to restore
balance when disturbed. No one really knows how ionospheric
experiments will affect that balance, or what the earth will do in
response to try to restore balance."
These words are from Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., of Toronto,
Canada, founder of the International Institute of Concern for Public
Health. Dr. Bertell was commenting on a U. S. military experiment
named HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program). HAARP
may be the test run for a ground-based 'Star Wars' defense system.
Military documents say it is intended to disrupt portions of the
ionosphere (electrically active layer above the upper atmosphere) by
heating it with powerful pulsed radio frequency beams. Radiation that
bounces back to the surface of the planet would be in the longwave ELF
(extremely low frequency) range.
Intended to be the most powerful ionospheric heater ever
built, HAARP's ground-based apparatus - an array of 48 antennae each
powered by its own transmitter - sits in the remote Alaskan wilderness
northeast of the city of Anchorage. HAARP is much more than the
auroral (Northern Lights) and radio-communications research project as
is claimed by researchers at the University of Alaska's Geophysical
Institute and their financial backers - the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air
Force. Any weapons system in its early stages can be easily disguised
as "pure" research. The fact is however, that HAARP is a military
experiment aimed at invasively manipulating the ionosphere by beaming
high energy upward from the ground. Such activity could potentially
disrupt natural systems on the earth and high above it.
Individual members of the European Parliament are among
the growing number of people worldwide who have been startled to hear
about HAARP. Voices expressing various levels of concern are being
heard in many countries. For example, in contrast with the
cautiously-worded comment of Dr. Bertell, a Germany-based researcher
in the field of quantum electrodynamics, Al Zielinski, paints an
apocalyptic word-picture. (He says HAARP technology could trigger a
disaster with a global impact - electromagnetic waves causing
destruction "when interacting with protective layers of the earth and
its gravitational field".)
The ionosphere seems very far away, but even when
undisturbed by humans it affects our everyday lives. For example,
radio broadcasts are bounced off this electrically charged layer which
lies between forty and six hundred miles above the surface of the
earth, just above the ozone layer. The ionosphere is alive with
electrical activity, so much so that its processes are "non-linear".
This means that the ionosphere is dynamic, and its reactions to
experiments are unpredictable.
The concept of non-linear is important in understanding
the concerns of independent scientists who are knowledgeable about
advanced physics and who warn against brash high-energy experiments on
the ionosphere. Non-linear processes can change suddenly and
unexpectedly, or they can increase in power dramatically. Some
theorists such as Zielinski say that a non-linear process can under
certain conditions tap into the
background energy of space, which is also called "zero-point
fluctuations of the vacuum".
Studying radio communications by using a tool as
powerful as HAARP is a worthy scientific task in the opinion of the
authors, but some independent researchers question whether the means
justifies the end. Is it wise to poke holes in Earth's electrical
umbrella? Is it wise to prod a dynamic natural system without knowing
how it might react?
HAARP-Type Technology Could Perform A Variety Of Tricks
HAARP is intended to heat and lift a portion of the ionosphere above a
selected location or locations on the planet in order to make a huge
invisible "mirror" for bouncing electromagnetic radiation back to the
surface of Earth. Why? The answer is that the U.S. military wants to:
* Communicate with its submerged submarines by
penetrating the oceans with ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) radiations.
* Penetrate the land with ELF in order to search for
hidden tunnels or other sites of military interest (a process known as
earth-penetrating tomography).
What else could a HAARP-type project do in the near
future? If the technology is scaled up in size, it could:
* Shield a territory from intercontinental ballistic
missiles
* Fry satellites
* Discriminate between incoming objects (missiles)
Enhance communications
* Disrupt communications over a large area of the globe
* Change the chemical structure of the upper atmosphere
and possibly alter the weather
* Affect human mental functioning
* Impact the health of humans and other biological
systems.
Ionospheric heaters as a class of research instruments
are nothing new; they have operated in Puerto Rico, the former Soviet
Union and Tromso, Norway (operated by Max Planck Insitut fur
Aeronomie) as well as at another site in Alaska. But what is being
tested in the Alaskan wilderness since 1994 is new -- a tool that can
focus and steer the radio frequency energy upward. This makes it
capable of hitting the
ionosphere with a far greater impact than possible from the previous
design of heaters.
As HAARP's focused radio-frequency beams heat and boil
targeted locations of the ionosphere, Earth's electrical system will
be injected with a further excess of high-energy particles. What
happens when a saturated system is infused repeatedly with too much
energy? This question has been raised by independent physicists.
Each experiment with the HAARP is a test run for what
can later be a powerful multi-purpose tool for the United States
military. When completely built, the tool will beam an immense amount
of focused radio-frequency energy upward, heating and therefore
lifting a part of the ionosphere. To picture how HAARP works, imagine
a radio telescope in reverse; antennas that send out signals instead
of receiving them. Then imagine an array of the most powerful of such
instruments, working together to focus a beam upward.
How can a lay person understand what such a tool could
do? Alaska state legislators are not necessarily trained in science,
so in the spring of 1996 their State Affairs committee called in
representatives of both sides of the HAARP controversy. (Following
publication of the book Angels Don't Play This HAARP, many Alaskans
became aware of the experiment in their backyard and asked their
lawmakers to look at it.)
Alaska Lawmakers Hear Scientists' Concerns
One of the experts who testified at the State Affairs
Committee hearing was Richard Williams of Princeton, New Jersey. He
has a doctorate degree in physical chemistry from Harvard University
and worked for 30 years as an industrial scientist in solid state
electronics, electronics, structure of clouds, water evaporation and
other environmental problems. Dr. Williams is an independent
scientist; he's not dependent on funding from the military. This lends
him a degree of independent judgment which compels us to quote him at
length:
"I want to alert the legislature to an activity now
going on in Alaska that, in addition to any local effect, might become
a global threat to the atmosphere. That is HAARP. The initial
experiment, as Mr.(project manager John) Hecksher said, will be done
using modest power levels and are not a cause for concern. However,
the project's internal documents indicate that plans include the
eventual use of power levels up to ten billion watts. This is an
enormous power level, more than
200 times the total electrical power level used by the city of Juneau.
There could be a serious impact in the atmosphere that might result
from energies of this magnitude. Effects might include drastic
alteration of the thermal, refractive, scattering and emission
character of the atmosphere over a wide range of the electromagnetic
spectrum."
"Experiments at this power level would produce large
changes in the concentration of charged particles in the ionosphere
that would persist for some time and might even lead to permanent
changes."
Dr. Williams told the committee that he is a supporter
of the armed forces, but as a scientist he wanted to explain how
"unintended consequences of innocent and beneficial human activities
can cause serious changes on a global scale".
We introduced two examples of activities earlier this
century which caused unintentional and serious changes in the
atmosphere, with effects worldwide. The first example he cited was the
growing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. "What we
don't know yet is how this will affect the delicate balance of life on
earth."
The second unintended change that he cited is damage to
the ozone layer, that shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
"In neither of these examples would an Environmental Impact Statement
have identified the problem in time. Do we have any way to judge what
(HAARP's) energy can do to the upper atmosphere?"
Excess Of Charged Particles, A Product Of HAARP
Perhaps, Dr. Williams offered, we do have an indicator: results of
high-altitude nuclear explosions by the US and USSR during the Cold
War. Intended to produce artificial radiation zones and possibly
counteract a threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the
explosions resulted in global interruptions of radio communications
and profound disturbances of the upper atmosphere, including greatly
increased concentrations of charged particles.
Following one of these tests, in July of 1962, James Van
Allen used specially-instrumented satellites to monitor the electron
population in the upper atmosphere. He reported a large initial
increase in electron population, followed by a slow decrease, with
significant disturbances still observable a year after the explosion.
"But this was just one injection of energy," Dr.
Williams said. "To develop a military system, such as the one proposed
by HAARP to communicate with submerged submarines, takes many tests,
even if the system is never used in combat. For example, for test
purposes over the years, the nuclear armed countries have exploded
more than 2,000 nuclear weapons, mostly near the Earth's surface or
under ground. A single massive injection of energy into the atmosphere
violently disturbs its properties, and as Van Allen showed, the effect
can last for a year or more."
"What would be the effect of repeatedly injecting high
energy thousands of times? I believe the answer is that no one knows."
Those were changes of the atmosphere on a global scale,
Dr. Williams noted. He pondered the possibility of additional,
special, effects for polar regions, where the upper atmosphere has
unique properties. Showers of charged particles coming from storms on
the sun veer toward the poles, where they enter the atmosphere and
produce the northern lights; some changes in the ozone layer have been
most extreme over
Antarctica and the far North. "Any future global changes in the
atmosphere might well be noticed first in polar regions. Alaska may
get the first warning of coming changes. And serve as the miner's
canary for the rest of the world. If this happened, Alaska's state
motto, 'North to the Future', would take on an unintended and ironic
meaning."
"For any program that might damage the atmosphere on a
global scale, we need to have full warning of the plans in advance,
and informed public discussion, to justify the activity and identify
all possible hazards."
Controversial Views
Dr. William Gordon (Ph.D. at Rice University, an
electrical engineer specializing in radio communications) has worked
on an ionospheric heater project and said there is "no convincing
evidence" that exposure to low frequency electric or magnetic fields
causes monitorable health hazards. He said the U.S. Navy has sponsored
a series of studies asking if their ELF transmitters in the states of
Wisconsin and Michigan have caused harm.
"The results are not all in, but from the material I
have looked at, operation of the ELF facility does not produce
ecological effects..." While testifying at the legislative hearing he
claimed that operation of very powerful transmitters have no adverse
health effects.
Dr. Patrick Flanagan of Arizona disagrees. Dr. Flanagan
also gave telephoned testimony. Since the proponents of HAARP focused
attention on whether those questioning the project have prestigious
academic backgrounds, Dr. Begich introduced Patrick Flanagan at
length:
He has a doctorate in both medicine and physics and has
experience in government weapons projects: he developed and sold a
guided missile detector to the U.S. military when still a youth. Later
he developed an electronic device for communication with the brain.
Dr. Flanagan worked with a Pentagon think tank that was run by the
former head of the Office of Scientific Research. He also developed
speech encoding
systems. He has worked for NASA, Tufts University, the Office of Naval
Research, and at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds for the Department of
Unconventional Weapons and Warfare.
The major portion of Dr. Flanagan's life work, however,
has been on electromagnetic fields and their effects on living
systems. In 1968 he turned his back on government-sponsored research,
and since then has done independent research in his own laboratory.
Max Planck Institute Points To Health Effects
Possible effects of future HAARP fields on living
systems is a concern that should be discussed, Dr. Flanagan told the
committee. "One of the purposes of HAARP is to develop ELF (extremely
low frequency) capability, for transmitting high-energy ELF waves,
from .001 HZ all the way up to 40 Kilohertz, as described in (the
military's) literature."
In the meantime, new research by other scientists shows
that ELF signals may have profound effects on living organisms. Dr.
Flanagan cited the example of known effects of ELF on the Circadian
rhythms, which is the biological clock, of all living organisms
including humans.
"The Max Planck Institute in Germany has done quite a
bit of work on this, showing that very low energy levels - in fact,
energy levels that are one tenth of the strength of the earth's
magnetic field, can have profound effects on these rhythms... Mr.
Hecksher and his colleagues may say that ELF fields from HAARP are not
harmful, but remember -- our government once sprayed DDT (pesticide)
on school children while they were eating lunch, and said this was not
harmful..."
Dr. Flanagan in his brief testimony cited a study by a
researcher at Catholic University which showed that coherent ELF
fields, which is what HAARP will generate, can have an effect on DNA.
For example they create abnormal development in chicken embryos and
"possibly in humans".
In reply to denial by a military representative, Dr.
Flanagan said there are thousands of papers written by reputable
scientists on the negative effects of ELF fields on living systems.
The Environmental Protection Agency released a report in 1991 linking
electromagnetic fields to leukemia and brain cancer in children, for
example. Flanagan continues, "we have a paper here that was just
published in 1996 entitled Superimposing Spatially Coherent
Electromagnetic Noise Inhibits Field-induced Abnormalities in
Developing Chick Embryos. The
paper shows that very low energy ELF fields develop abnormalities in
developing chick embryos." (The fields could be counteracted by
applying a white noise field.) "There is a tremendous amount of
background literature on this. So ELF fields are not just harmless, as
is being implied.... I don't think the question of electromagnetic
safety has been entered at all."
No National Flags Waving In The Ionosphere
Mark Farmer, a journalist from Juneau, Alaska, also
testified. Farmer prefaced his testimony by reminding the military
representatives that he quotes statements from their own documents.
Farmer's articles have been published in the prestigious defense
magazine, Janes Defense Weekly, and in Popular Science magazine.
Farmer agreed that HAARP needs independent monitoring
but he is not opposed to HAARP and appreciates the instrumentation.
Particularly because it is currently only one-tenth of its eventual
size "...the actual transmitter, as Mr. Hecksher says, is going to be
a complex of incoherent scatter radars, some imaging devices. The
super computer from UAF (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) is going to
be tied in I
imagine, for diagnostics. There's a spun liquid mercury mirror that's
being put in. This is cutting-edge stuff and we in Alaska are lucky to
have it, in some respects. I am generally in favor of the program, but
the oversight (monitoring of the project) stinks."
"There is no supranational treaty that deals with the
upper atmosphere or the ionosphere like there is for Antarctica or
outer space," Farmer continued.
"I doubt if the power levels of HAARP are going to do
anything really bad, but I don't know. Back in the 1950s and 1960s we
blew up hydrogen bombs in the upper atmosphere... that delivered a lot
more energy than HAARP can. But with (HAARP's) beam-steering, the
pulsing capabilities, and maybe some instigation from secret
organizations or counterproliferation groups within the U. S.
government, there could be some bad effects."
"So there needs to be oversight other than the
military." Farmer noted that Phillips laboratory, where HAARP's
project manager is based, does basic research, as does the Office of
Naval Research. But they also build secret weapons.
Most of Farmer's writing involves a covert testing base
in Nevada called Area 51; he has spent much time in that area and in
observing military secrecy tactics. He does not see HAARP itself as a
secret project, but added that he does believe there are some secret
initiatives. HAARP documents are unclassified "at least that I've been
able to find. But there are classified documents dealing with 'Star
Wars' (Strategic Defense Initiative) related projects such as using
ionospheric heaters, back in the '1980s, which HAARP is actually a
spinoff from."
HAARP technology could be used for beneficial purposes,
Farmer said. However, if people outside the military lose interest in
asking that HAARP's power levels and purposes be monitored by
independent science councils, then the hidden world of defense
corporations will probably step in. "The black programs will probably
seep in from the side. And there will be secret initiatives."
Could Other Countries Build Powerful Zappers?
One of the legislators, Representative Green, asked if
HAARP is opening a "Pandora's box" - other countries would soon have
whatever technology is developed in HAARP. Could what begins in its
simplistic form, safe and controllable, later be used as a weapon by
increasing the level of energy, and possibly detrimental effects, over
selected areas?
Edward Kennedy, from Naval Research Laboratory in
Washington, D.C., who is a technical interface between the contractor
for HAARP (Raytheon Corporation) and the government, said that is
difficult to answer. "We in the United States have no control over
what other countries might do." However, he said, most other countries
probably would not be able to finance building such a powerful
instrument.
HAARP project manager John Hecksher told the committee
that the ionospheric heater in Norway is comparable to HAARP: it has
an antenna array very much like what HAARP will have. However,
regarding HAARP's ability to create a narrow beam, Norway's instrument
is two or three times less powerful than what HAARP will become.
Dr. Begich wanted the discussion to focus on the unique
features of HAARP technology, not merely on power levels transmitted
from the ground. The significant feature which distinguishes HAARP
from other ionospheric heater projects operating around the world is
the focusing capability of this particular design. The ability to
focus radio-frequency energy into a narrow beam and to steer that beam
gives it a powerful advantage in "perturbing the ionosphere".
Dr. Siun Akasofu, head of the University of Alaska's
Geophysical Institute, argued that speaking about the focusing is
misleading and that even if the radio-frequency beam is focused,
"...the amount of energy going into the ionosphere is so little that
you cannot see any light coming from the ionosphere. One of most
sensitive instruments in the world cannot see it. On the other hand,
look at the aurora; you can see it with your naked eye." (We
experienced Dr. Akasofu's
statement as being strange, because the scientific literature on
ionospheric heaters is full of references to "enhanced airglow" from
the experiments.)
Dr. Begich and Dr. Flanagan asked the committee to look
at the absence of independent biological scientists and people with
backgrounds in electrophysiology, in the think tanks where HAARP-type
experiments are hatched. People with those backgrounds are also
concerned, he said, that using a tool for disturbing the ionosphere is
not a decision that should be made only by the United States; it's a
global issue.
Alaska may acquire a defense shield in the form of an
advanced HAARP-type technology, Dr. Begich noted. "But it has to be
reviewed from a biological standpoint, not just a mechanical
standpoint."
Changing Statements About Power Levels
At the legislative hearing, HAARP employees focused on
HAARP's current power levels, while the researchers on the other side
of the controversy focused attention on the direction in which the
power levels for the project are heading.
Has the military decided to downsize this current
program they call HAARP because of public attention to it? At the
legislative hearing, a representative of the military said the current
developmental prototype of HAARP is capable of 3.6 kilowatts of
radiated power. The full scale prototype will provide up to ten times
that, or about 3,600 kilowatts, he said.
Dr. Patrick Flanagan noted that "the power levels
described by Dr. Hecksher aren't consistent with a statement he made
on a TV show (Sightings). When he was interviewed, (Dr. Hecksher) said
the HAARP system can punch holes through the ionosphere and these
holes would heal shortly after a HAARP system was turned off."
To punch a hole through the ionosphere would take more
than the alleged 3,600 kilowatts, Dr. Flanagan indicated. He did
mention, however, that there was another disturbing possibility: the
"maser amplification of the HAARP energy. For example, if HAARP is
applying 3,600 kilowatts to the ionosphere, there's a possibility of
what is called maser amplification of that energy by charged particles
in the ionosphere...the energy is powered by the energy from the sun.
So that these charged particles in the ionosphere can be caused to
mase... So that puts out more energy than HAARP is putting in."
What do the military planners have in mind? Technical
Memorandum 195, an unpublished 613-page compilation concerning the
HAARP Workshop on Ionospheric Heating Diagnostics, (held in 1991 at
Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts) includes this piece of
information: the desired
level of power for HAARP is 100 billion watts, vastly greater than
what the military is now claiming as a goal. Other documents from the
military were openly published and refer to power levels between one
and ten gigawatts (billion watts).
Whatever the eventual power level it does not take much
power bouncing back to the surface of the earth to affect living
organisms. Dr. Nick Begich also told the State Affairs Committee about
a substantial amount of science literature on the topic that has been
published as recently as the early 1990s. The findings suggest that
lower levels of energy (lower than previously believed) can affect
human physiology. These studies are the most significant aspect of
what has not been
properly disclosed by those responsible for the HAARP project's
safety, he testified. The project began when the debate over effects
of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation was still in its infancy. Since
then, many scientists have come to the conclusion that lower energy
densities, when pulsed in the right frequency range, will have
profound health effects.
by Dr. Nick Begich of Anchorage, Alaska,
Jeane Manning of Vancouver, British Columbia
©1996 - 1999