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Chapter Twelve
TWISTED WORDS, STAR WARS AND POKER FLATS
"Trying to pin these guys down is like nailing jello to the wall,"
That was how one "No HAARP" member described the military's public
relations efforts on the project. The HAARP, had little or nothing
to do with nature's electropaintings in the sky, the aurora
borealis. The project name was the mask behind which the military
hid, letting the University of Alaska Fairbanks, through the
Geophysical Institute, moved out front on the project, parading it
as a research effort with an economic development spin.
The latest additions to the research have revealed government
disinformation. The first new item was found in the library at the
Geophysical Institute122 and revealed the true scope planned, over
the long term, for HAARP and the technologies it uses. Other
important items recently uncovered were the remaining nine of twelve
patents originally assigned to ARCO Power Technologies Incorporated
(APTI) 123 which would eventually end up in the patent portfolio of
Raytheon Corporation, one of the world's largest companies.
The meetings and information put together by the military as part of
the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process seemed alright to
most, although several people were pretty well informed about the
possible ill effects of radiofrequency radiation. In most areas of
the country this level of knowledge would have been unusual but in
"bush" Alaska, radios are a way of life, and many plug into the
planet via satellite dish and Internet connections to stay up on the
latest research in many fields.
In the winter, time passes slowly,
and the new technologies have brought relief and stimulation to the
minds of many in these remote reaches of North America. Alaskans
also tend to have independent spirits, having had to carve out their
niche in some of the most severe environmental conditions in the
world. Alaskans are a bit skeptical. For many, the EIS meetings
raised more questions than they answered.
The government seemed to try to create the illusion that the project
was standing alone when, in fact, it was tied to a number of other
experiments and systems. The project requires other equipment to run
with the HAARP facility, some of which was described in the
military's and University of Alaska Fairbanks' various documents.
The Poker Flat Rocket Range is the largest land based (5,132
acresl24) research facility in the world and the only high latitude
rocket range in the United States. It is the only University
operated range in the country. Poker Flat Rocket Range has been
funded in past years with NASA grants of $1.5 million annually.
122 PL/GP Technical Memorandum No. 195; "Presentations from the
HAARP Workshop on Ionospheric Heating Diagnostics, 30 April - 2 May
1991, Phillips Laboratory (AFSC), Hanscom AFB, MA. 01731-5000";
Editor, Major Drew Fisher, October 22, 1991.
123
United States Patent Numbers
4686605;
4712155;
4817495;
4873928;
4954709;
4999637;
5038664;
5041834;
5068669;
5202689;
5218374; and
5293176.
124
Geophysical Quarterly, Volume 10, No. 1 & 2, Winter 1992, pg, 1.
The
site also received a $30 million upgrade as a part of a national
defense bill passed by the Congress in the early 1990'sl25 when Dr.
Syun-Ichi Akasofu declared,
"We plan to build the best upper
atmospheric research facility in the world."126
Public relations communications on HAARP, during 1993 and 1994
denied that the project was formally tied to the Poker Flat Rocket
range. During 1992 the Air Force funded, under a separate program,
the launch of a 17,000 pound rocket carrying a payload of 2,770
pounds. The Spirit 11 rocket was used to send a high-tech telescope
about 205 miles above the Earth to measure emissions from auroral
displays.
The Geophysical Institute disclosed that,
"Researchers at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts plan to use the measurements
as a part of a larger Strategic Defense Initiative Organization
(commonly known as Star Wars) study on atmospheric disturbances.
Studying infrared light is important because it can prevent some Air
Force satellites from being able to detect targets, other
satellites, or clutter in space, just as city lights can prevent
people from seeing stars in the sky." 127
A number of other military
projects have been reported in the Geophysical Institute's
publications which, although they were funded separately, produced
information crucial to the planned uses of HAARP. Many of these
kinds of projects are revealed throughout this book.
At the same time that the HAARP project started, and the Poker Flat
upgrades were funded the University also received, again under
separate Congressional funding, $25 million for a Cray Supercomputer
which the military indicated was also not "formally" tied to HAARP.
128 However, upon investigating, it was determined that this
computer would be committed to 30% Defense Department uses.
While
the military couched their wording in ways that deflected interest
away from these facts, the records were clear. What was not so clear
was why they were not just saying yes, they were going to use all of
these systems, yes, these systems interface with this hardware while
being funded under separate programsl29 as indicated in their own
planning documents. It just didn't add up; what was the big deal
anyway?
In a letter to one of Alaska's legislators, the public relations man
for HAARP, John Heckscher, stated that,
"the HAARP program is not
formally tied to the Poker Flat Rocker Range, nor to the new
super-computer at the University of Alaska... However, the research
capabilities associated with those excellent facilities will
undoubtedly be of interest and use to scientists using the HAARP
facility."130
John Heckscher was at the military planning sessions
which clearly described the use of these other facilities, The
summary of those meetings, in 1990 and 1991, contained the
following:
"the incoherent scatter radar facility, envisioned to
complement the planned new HF heater, is currently being funded in a
separate DoD program, as part of an upgrade at the Poker Flat rocket
range, in Alaska."
125 Geophysical Quarterly, Volume B, No, 1 & 2, Winter
1990, pg. 2.
126 Ibid.
127 Geophysical Quarterly, Volume 10, No, 1 &
2, Winter 1992, pg. 1.
128 "Porkpie in the Sky", Anchorage Daily
News, We Alaskans , December 15,1991, pages 9-14.
129
PL/GP Technical Memorandum No.195; "Presentations from the HAARP Workshop on
Ionospheric Heating Diagnostics,30 April - 2 May 1991,Phillips
Laboratory (AFSC), Hanscom AFB,
MA. 01731-5000"; Editor, Major Drew Fisher, October 22,1991,
130 Department of the Airforce, Phillips Laboratory, John Heckscher, HAARP Program Manager,
Letter to Alaska State Representative Jeannette James, November 12,
1993.
At the same time it turned out that 30% of the computer
time on the Supercomputer was for Department of Defense (DoD)
purposes.
So why the misinformation? What could be gained by deception, and
how much other material was being hidden behind the programs of the
University of Alaska?
The reports go on to describe the additional
need for "rocket-borne instrumentation", discussion of which was
also evaded in the responses by Heckscher to Alaskans inquiring
about this project. A review of just one year's grants to the
University of Alaska shows dozens of projects not "directly or
formally" tied to HAARP, but forming complements of research which
will undoubtedly further the program objectives 131.
It was found
that the military's public relations program was intended to
minimize the significant factors regarding the technology, the
interactivity of other projects and the real control and direction
of the project. The records showed that HAARP was part of a global
cooperative effort which included the USSR, Canada, Japan,
Greenland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand and others132 .
NO HAARPer's
questioned how much of what information was being shared with the
countries uninvolved in the project, considering that all could be
adversely affected by HAARP.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is beginning to build a
reputation as a leader in geophysical research and planetary system
modeling. The Geophysical Institute will continue to attract
researchers, but their biggest source of money is from federal
governmental agencies tied to the military. The HAARP project is
wholly controlled by the military, with the same warning signs
around the facility as at other military installations throughout
the country. The HAARP facility is a military facility. It seems the
University is increasingly being "sidelined" on the project.
At this time, HAARP is,
"A congressionally initiated effort, HAARP is
being managed cooperatively by the Air Force and Navy."133
HAARP is
not a university research project; it is a "proof-of-concept"
project for the military. A "proof-of concept" project is one where
advanced research experiments are designed to test, on generally a
smaller scale, specific applications of research. These tests allow
experimenters to extrapolate results which can then be used to
engineer full size technology implementing systems. In other words,
this is the step just before full weapon systems development.
The military carefully hid the interaction of the patents originally
assigned to APTI and used in conceptualizing HAARP. These twelve
patents are described in another chapter of this book, and show how
the HAARP system will actually be used as a weapon. The risks
associated with the system are also discussed. The most revealing
document was one the government has kept in a very tight box - PL/GP
Technical Memorandum No. 195.
This document which explains the
military applications of the project was supposed to be sanitized
before public release.
131 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical institute
Summary of 1993/94 grants.
132
PL/GP Technical Memorandum No.195; "Presentations from the HAARP Workshop on
Ionospheric Heating Diagnostics, 30 April - 2 May 1991,Phillips
Laboratory (AFSC), Hanscom AFB,
MA. 01731-5000"; Editor, Major Drew Fisher; October 22,1991.
133 HAARP Fact Sheet, Office of Naval Research, Phillips Laboratory,
November 4, 1993.
This writer was
fortunate in finding this document which was misplaced in a library;
as shown in another chapter. This document most effectively
dismantles the public relations disinformation put forward by the
military.
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