maximus otter
Recovering policeman
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
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Thunderbolts are traditionally the weapon of the gods, but in 1967 the CIA were wondering whether they, too, could call down bolts of lightning from the heavens at will.
The idea is contained in a proposal from a scientist, sent to the CIA’s Deputy for Research ‘Special Activities’ and passed on to the chief of the Air Systems division. The scientist’s name has been redacted in the declassified document from the CIA’s archive, but the proposal mentions a previous discussion with the CIA, indicating they were being taken seriously.
The guided lightning concept is based on the observation that lightning follows a path of ionized air known as a step leader. Once the leader stroke reaches the ground and makes a circuit, the lightning proper is formed and a current flow, typically around 300 million Volts at 30,000 Amps.
The scientist suggests that artificial leaders could “cause discharges to occur when and where we want them.” The artificial leader would be a wire a few thousandths of an inch in diameter and several miles long. Wires would be inserted into storms by aircraft or rockets on a spool, and unrolled by a drogue parachute, and lightning would follow them down to the ground.
Among the advantages are “a relatively cheap barrage may be laid down” and “there should be little or no evidence left of what caused the lightning storm.” The technique would allow the CIA to call down what looked like the wrath of heaven on a target without giving away that they were behind it.
There are no further mentions of controlled lightning in the CIA archives.We cannot tell whether the idea was dropped — or whether it disappeared into some secret black project and the CIA still harbors dreams of a covert arsenal of thunderbolts.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/21/when-the-cia-tried-to-weaponize-lightning/
maximus otter
The idea is contained in a proposal from a scientist, sent to the CIA’s Deputy for Research ‘Special Activities’ and passed on to the chief of the Air Systems division. The scientist’s name has been redacted in the declassified document from the CIA’s archive, but the proposal mentions a previous discussion with the CIA, indicating they were being taken seriously.
The guided lightning concept is based on the observation that lightning follows a path of ionized air known as a step leader. Once the leader stroke reaches the ground and makes a circuit, the lightning proper is formed and a current flow, typically around 300 million Volts at 30,000 Amps.
The scientist suggests that artificial leaders could “cause discharges to occur when and where we want them.” The artificial leader would be a wire a few thousandths of an inch in diameter and several miles long. Wires would be inserted into storms by aircraft or rockets on a spool, and unrolled by a drogue parachute, and lightning would follow them down to the ground.
Among the advantages are “a relatively cheap barrage may be laid down” and “there should be little or no evidence left of what caused the lightning storm.” The technique would allow the CIA to call down what looked like the wrath of heaven on a target without giving away that they were behind it.
There are no further mentions of controlled lightning in the CIA archives.We cannot tell whether the idea was dropped — or whether it disappeared into some secret black project and the CIA still harbors dreams of a covert arsenal of thunderbolts.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/21/when-the-cia-tried-to-weaponize-lightning/
maximus otter
