The "Suntracker"

[turbo_skylane]

anyone see a show on discovery channel about a boeing bomber , not sure which one, that was modifyed to carry a mysterious device called the suntracker. the bomber crahsed into lake mead. also does anybody have any more info on this?

[Theis]

In 1948, a B-29 on a research mission took off from California carrying a strange piece of scientific equipment - the Suntracker. But when the plane crashed into Lake Mead, Nevada, the Suntracker was lost along with all records of what it was or what the plane was studying. Now, archaeologists from the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center explore the wrecked bomber, submerged under 200 feet of water, and learn that it was at the forefront of Cold War science

Cheers Theis

[turbo_skylane]

wasn't that a altitude device or something?

[Hagar]

Interesting. I found this on another forum. http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22043

A Suntracker is...

The mission of the heliostat, or suntracker, is to capture the distinct radiative fingerprints of pollutants invisible to the human eye, including nitrogen oxides, which are precursors to acid rain, and ozone, a corrosive gas with documented adverse effects on vegetation and human health in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an International Biosphere Reserve, and elsewhere.

from this website....

http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/insites/ins11-2.htm

Remember the time that this was 1948. The US had the bomb. Russia detonated their first one in 1948. The mission of this plane was to search for 'evidence' of a Russian detonation.

This plane was flying over Nevada to calibrate the device to learn its limitations in order to better find evidence of a Soviet test detonation. Nevada is where the US military tested their own bombs. Thus the air would be thick with radioactive particles.

[turbo_skylane]

this topic intrests me but yet it gives me the chills. might be the fact that the a/c is on.

[Hagar]

It's very interesting but a lot of top secret research was going on in 1948. It's hardly likely to be secret now or anything to worry about. If you look at that link I posted you will see that one of these "Suntracker" devices is installed on the roof of the University of Tennessee. It's used for environmental research.

Let's see what we have here. An aircraft crashes into a lake. Nothing really unusual in that until the story gets out that it was involved in a government research project & carrying a secret device. If this is true the loss of one aircraft wouldn't stop the research. They would simply install one in another aircraft & carry on as normal.

Meanwhile, back at the lake. Before you know it all sorts of wild theories build up & another local legend is born. The Mystery Bomber in the Lake or the Loch Ness Monster. It's much the same thing & does no harm to the tourist industry. These documentaries often make a lot more out of these stories than there actually is.

[turbo_skylane]

so the suntracker was a atomosphere device? i actually though it was like a heat detector ....

[Hagar]

so the suntracker was a atomosphere device? i actually though it was like a heat detector ....

That's the problem with these local myths & legends. Someone hears the name 'Suntracker' which sounds mysterious. If they don't know what it does they make it up. The story improves over time & you have your mystery where none existed. People love mysteries & scare stories. This is true with most secret projects. Read my previous quote.

"A Suntracker is...

The mission of the heliostat, or suntracker, is to capture the distinct radiative fingerprints of pollutants invisible to the human eye, including nitrogen oxides, which are precursors to acid rain, and ozone, a corrosive gas with documented adverse effects on vegetation and human health in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an International Biosphere Reserve, and elsewhere."
[url]http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/insites/ins11-2.htm
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