H.A.A.R.P.

File this under pure radio arcana: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/

H.A.A.R.P. is (supposedly) a scientific research facility, located near Gakona, in the remote Alaskan wilderness. This facility is used to study the earth's ionosphere. The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program is an investigation project to "understand, simulate and control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems". Started in 1993, the project is proposed to last for a period of twenty years. The project is jointly funded by US Air Force, Navy, and University of Alaska. Three groups that normally dont hang out together.

So how is this about radio?

Well the military is very VERY interested in long distance communications. And Radio communications since the first trans-Atlantic broadcast have been more about the bounce, than the point to point. Previous to Marconi's work, it was assumed that radio traveled in line of sight only. If this were true, the maximum possible communication distance would be determined by the terrain and the curve of the Earth. After Marconi, there were two possibilities.
1. the signal was "bending" with the curve of the Earth.
2. the signal was bouncing off the atmosphere.

In 1902, Oliver Heaviside and Arthur Kennelly each independently proposed that a conducting layer existed in the upper atmosphere that would allow a transmitted EM signal to be reflected back toward the Earth. Up to this time, there was no direct evidence of such a region and little was known about the physical or electrical properties of the Earth's upper atmosphere.

New toys that may come of this include: over the horizon radar, super long distance communications, and replace the huge Extremely Low Frequency (E.L.F.) submarine communication system. Exactly what they are doing is appropriately TOP SECRET. While it seems innocuous to me, other parties find HAARP to be the center of a vast and wild conspiracy.

My favorites in increasing order of weirdness:
1. H.A.A.R.P. is a controversial high frequency radio transmitter, or "ionospheric heater". The military intends to use this billion-watt pulsed radio beam in our upper atmosphere. This technology will enhance communications with submarines and will allow us to "see" into the Earth, detecting anything from oil reserves to hidden underground military targets. H.A.A.R.P.'s roots can be traced back to work of Nikola Tesla.

2. Is built on the work of a Texas' physicist named Bernard Eastlund. The millitary intends to use the HAARP transmitter to replace the electromagnetic pulse effect of atmospheric thermonuclear devices.

3. HAARP could be used to test the ability "to deliver very large amount of energy, comparable to a nuclear bomb, anywhere on earth", "change weather patterns", "block all global communications", "disrupting human mental processes" and mind control, communicating with submarines, and "x-raying the earth".