In regards to the SYSTEMS CONSIDERATIONS OF WEATHER MODIFICATION EXPERIMENTS
USING HIGH POWER ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION document, I have the following
thoughts:
1) The primary application being pushed in this proposal is the use of
electromagnetic energy (microwave radio freqency energy) for the purpose of
suppression of huricanes and tornadoes.
2) Secondary applications presented include the possibility of weather
control for defense purposes. This is a typical ploy when attempting to
secure financing for development projects which are extremely expensive: try
to interest DoD concerns as well as commercial/civil concerns. Many times
two or more government agencies will share in the funding and administration
of large and expensive projects like this.
3) Much of the document involves discussions of how thunderstorms develop,
and the updrafts/downdrafts which sometimes develop into tornadoes. The
updraft/downdraft phenomenon is pinpointed as the area at which external
heating energy might be applied with the likelyhood of disrupting processes
which may lead to the development of damaging tornadoes.
4) The document proposes applying RF energy to this updraft/downdraft
region, which is generally characterized by diverse temperatures. Heating
applied to this region by means of large amounts of RF energy may be capable
of disrupting natural processes enough to prevent the formation of a tornado.
5) Previously, 2.5 GHz had been selected as the frequency of choice for high
power sunlight-to-microwave energy orbital satellites. This was because of
the wide availabilty of magnetrons used in consumer microwave ovens that
operate on this frequency. Recently, it has been determined that 24 GHz
microwave energy is more effective in achieving the goals desired because of
its attenuation and absorbtion characteristics in the atmospheric regions of
interest. Recent development efforts in cyclotron technology have yeilded
cyclotron tubes capable of 100 megawatt operation at this frequency.
6) Power levels in the range of one to 100 gigawatts CW sustained for up to
20 minutes will be required in order to sufficiently heat the appropriate
area of a thunderstorm that spawns tornadoes. Depending upon the size of the
storm and other factors, some critical level of power between these values
will have to be delivered to the right spot to prevent the development of a
tornado.
7) These power levels, if delivered by one satellite directly above the
storm, will be dangerous to biological life on the surface. Power levels on
the ground of a kilowatt per square meter or more may be realized. This
would be the equivalent of standing in front of your microwave oven on high
with the door open. One way of avoiding this would be to have a network of
lower power satellites apply their beams at 90 degrees to the surface of the
earth so that there would be no possibility of them illuminating the ground.
8) HAARP may be used to provide a virtual reflector for the microwave
energy, allowing the source generator(s) to be located on the ground instead
of on space-based satellite platforms.
9) The document acknowledges that the application of power levels this
extreme to the ecosphere may have unexpected short and long term effects.
10) The document realizes the dangers of weather control technology, and
acknowledges that international laws will need to be addressed before such
attempts are made.
These are just some of the highlights... The one thing we have going in our
favor is the extreme cost of even a prototype system. They could do some
preliminary studies with a ground-based 100 megawatt RF source and the HAARP
ionospheric mirror, but anything beyond this will require the allocation of
probably a billion dollars or more and up to 10 years of R&D and systems
deployment. This is not a cheap and/or quickly developed technology.