Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/01/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Jim, Cisco Systems? Or is it another secret? Douglas On 20.01.2013 17:50, Jim Nichols wrote: > Hi Douglas and Howard, > > Looks as if many of us have a connection there. My > oldest son, a computer systems analyst, spent some > time there for his employer, in the early 1980s. > > Jim Nichols > Tullahoma, TN USA > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Sharp" > <douglas.sharp at gmx.de> > To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org> > Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2013 10:41 AM > Subject: Re: [Leica] Cold War Space Radars - UFOs? > > >> Howard, >> >> I have actually walked past it at night - outside >> the perimeter fence. It's on the route of the old >> corpse way, which has been a long-distance walk for >> many years - The Lyke Wake Walk - a competitive and >> very tough walk that has to be finished within 24 >> hours. There used to be a little badge in the form >> of a coffin for everyone who completed it. It >> certainly looked eerie looming out of the mist in >> the twilight. >> >> The spookiest things along the walk are stumbling >> over a sheep in pitch darkness, or the loud squawks >> when you blunder into a nest of grouse! >> That said, I would never have thought of walking it >> alone. >> >> There have been cases of walkers inadvertently >> trespassing on the site, being arrested by RAF >> police with big dogs (now patrolled by a private >> security force), having been questioned, "invited" >> to sign the Official Secrets Act, and then being >> dropped off at the main gate after an excellent >> breakfast. (not exactly reaction with "extreme >> prejudice) >> >> One story even involves a bus full of pensioners >> that got lost in the fog and ended up between the >> golfballs - probably as believable as UFO-sightings.:-) >> >> Apparently, the new pyramid has 360? radar that >> covers everything (still including Russia, but now >> also the Middle East and N. Africa), but >> concentrates mainly on locating orbiting junk. >> >> Interesting is that the base is not marked on the >> Ordnance Survey maps of the UK (at least not on the >> 1977 issue). But is very clearly marked on Russian >> maps of the same period. >> >> As far as I know, the most important "spy" site in >> the area is Menwith Hill, the "Ear to the Sky" >> which, according to local hearsay, monitors >> international phone, e-mail and Internet traffic - >> purportedly for the NSA - is a part of the ECHELON >> System, and may even be involved in the control of >> drone attacks. >> >> But, as ever, all you have to do is put a high fence >> around it, put up unambiguous signs and post armed >> guards, and you already have the next conspiracy >> theory.:-) >> >> Cheers >> Douglas >> >> >> On 20.01.2013 15:53, Howard Ritter wrote: >>> Douglas? >>> >>> Thanks for the interesting information about the >>> Yorkshire moors. Must have been spooky to work at >>> at Fylingdales?especially at night! >>> >>> Actually, there was nothing particularly secret >>> about these installations. They were just radar >>> stations using technology developed in the 1950s >>> and '60s. They sent their data to a central >>> facility called the CC&DF inside Cheyenne Mountain >>> south of Colorado Springs (which was my last duty >>> station in this system, before I changed gears by >>> going to medical school). Now, the newer >>> installation you mentioned sounds like a >>> phased-array radar, which steers the beam >>> electronically and can generated multiple beams >>> simultaneously; there's maybe some classified >>> technology there. >>> >>> The more nuanced answer to your question about >>> unidentified objects is that we would not likely >>> have recognized one if we'd seen it! The system's >>> mission was to look for space objects with >>> ballistic (i.e., free-fall) trajectories that were >>> either a closed orbit (satellite) or one that >>> intersected the surface of the Earth (as an ICBM >>> warhead would do). Objects with none of these >>> conditions were ignored, and in any case only data >>> relating to position, velocity, and intensity of >>> the radar reflection were generated; a radar >>> doesn't produce an image. Moreover, the radar was >>> programmed to ignore anything closer to it than a >>> satellite in low Earth orbit, say 90 miles or so. >>> Alien spacecraft traveling under power in the >>> atmosphere would be ignored by the computer as >>> being aircraft and/or too close to be a threat >>> object, and one traveling under power in near-Earth >>> space would be ignored as not being ballistic. Such >>> a thing would have shown up on-screen (as a >>> computer-generated blip, not an image), but the >>> data would have been discarded as being irrelevant. >>> An alien craft actually on orbit, like a satellite, >>> and generating a strong reflection, WOULD generate >>> data that would be saved and sent to the CC&DF for >>> analysis, and would lead to the generation of a >>> new-satellite file. Such an unexpected finding >>> would have prompted an extreme-priority designation >>> that would have tasked the sites to gather maximum >>> data on it every pass. When it moved on, out of >>> orbit, disappearing suddenly without "decaying" due >>> to atmospheric friction, this would have generated >>> extreme consternation. I never heard of any such >>> object. Even new Soviet satellites were known about >>> virtually as soon as they were launched, and >>> nothing I was aware of generated the level of >>> intense interest that the sudden appearance of a >>> sizable, previously unknown object in orbit would >>> have. Of course, there are lots of bits of space >>> junk originating from exploding fuel tanks, the >>> occasional collision, etc., many thereby driven >>> into new orbits, and so small as to be marginally >>> or irregularly detectable, that are monitored >>> without their origin ever being identified. >>> >>> Of course, such aliens would presumably be highly >>> capable of evading detection if they wanted to. >>> They could simply stay out of sight of radars that >>> could detect them as unidentified orbiting objects. >>> Or if an alien ship used technology that gave it a >>> low radar cross-section, and were on an orbit that >>> had characteristics typical of satellites and the >>> rocket bodies used to launch space probes, it >>> presumably would not occasion anything other than >>> routine interest, nor would its appearance or >>> disappearance be thought mysterious. >>> >>> I kept constantly hoping, though! >>> >>> ?howard >>> >>> >>> On Jan 20, 2013, at 8:17 AM, Douglas Sharp >>> <douglas.sharp at gmx.de> wrote: >>> >>>> Of course not - that's why there are thousands of >>>> entries when you google on Fylingdales and UFO.:-) >>>> >>>> Even sightings of mysterious, panther-sized black >>>> cats, a UFO crash, lights in the sky and >>>> everything else that seems to hang around secret >>>> military facilities. (if it's so secret, why is it >>>> so clearly visible in one of the most exposed >>>> areas of Yorkshire?);-) >>>> >>>> The site is built on a medieval corpse way, and >>>> the moors were always full of will of the wisps, >>>> corpse candles, boggits, trolls and other things >>>> that jump out and scare unsuspecting travellers - >>>> and the giant Horcum lived not far away, he left a >>>> big hole in the ground by throwing rocks at a >>>> rival (It's actually the end of a glacial lake, >>>> but that's not half as spooky). >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> Douglas >>>> >>>> >>>> On 19.01.2013 20:53, Howard Ritter wrote: >>>>> Why, none?of course! ;-) >>>>> >>>>> ?howard >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Jan 19, 2013, at 2:05 PM, Douglas Barry >>>>> <imra at iol.ie> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Fascinating stuff, Howard, but, of course, we >>>>>> all want to know about the inexplicable, or how >>>>>> many likely extra-terrestrial spacecraft turned up? >>>>>> >>>>>> Douglas >>>>>> _________ >>>>>> Douglas Barry >>>>>> Bray, Co. Wicklow >>>>>> Republic of Ireland >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Leica Users Group. >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug >>>>> for more information >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug >>>> for more information >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for >>> more information >>> >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for >> more information >> >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for > more information > >