California "skyquake" waveform and a little history.

California skyquake waveform. Notice how sharp it is - no small tremblors leading up to the event. This is a massive sonic boom, not a quake. Where's jim Mori when I need him?

I'll see if i can dig up the 1992 skyquake data and post it for comparison.

- Steve Douglas




LINKS:

PDF on SEISMIC DETECTION OF SONIC BOOMS

APRIL 2009 MYSTERY BOOM LINK

MARCH 16, 2009 MYSTERY BOOM LINK

APRIL 2006 MYSTERY BOOM LINK

RELATED "AURORA" snippet from FAS website:


"Probably the most compelling evidence for such flight tests are the series of unusual sonic booms chronicled above Southern California, beginning in mid to late 1991. On at least five occasions, these sonic booms were recorded by at least 25 of the 220 US Geological Survey sensors across Southern California used to pinpoint earthquake epicenters. The incidents were recorded in June, October, November, and late January 1991.

Seismologists estimate that the aircraft were flying at speeds between Mach 3 and 4 and at altitudes of 8 to 10 kilometers. The aircraft's flight path was in a North North-East direction, consistent with flight paths to secret test ranges in Nevada. Seismologists say that the sonic booms were characteristic of a smaller vehicle than the 37 meter long shuttle orbiter. Furthermore, neither the shuttle nor NASA's single SR-71B were operating on the days the booms were registered.

One of the seismologists, Jim Mori, noted:

"We can't tell anything about the vehicle. They seem stronger than other sonic booms that we record once in a while. They've all come on Thursday mornings about the same time, between 6 and 7 in the morning."
These "skyquake" are a continuing phenomenon, with the most recent report over Orange County, CA coming on 20 July 1996. It is reported that the "quake" occurred around 3pm PST, fitting the "skyquake" pattern in the following respects:

1. It occurred in a coastal area.
2. Described as similar to an earthquake in some respects (rattling of loose objects, etc) but also like a boom (but no distinct double bang as far as is known).
3. Severe enough to light up government and media switchboards, but no known damage.
4. Not an earthquake (CalTech sensors saw nothing)
5. Local military bases deny any knowledge.
6. No known other source (eg explosion)

Intercepted radio transmissions are equally intriguing:<85>
"On Apr. 5 (a Sunday) and Apr. 22, radio hobbyists in Southern California monitored transmissions between Edwards AFB's radar control facility (Joshua Control) and a high-altitude aircraft using the call sign "Gaspipe." The series of radio calls occurred at approximately 6 a.m. local time on both dates.

"Controllers were directing the unknown Gaspipe aircraft to a runway at Edwards, using advisories similar to those given space shuttle crews during a landing approach. The monitors recorded two advisories, both transmitted by Joshua Control to Gaspipe: "You're at 67,000, 81 mi. out," and "Seventy mi. out, 36,000. Above glide slope."

Reported sightings of unusual high performance aircraft are not confined to the Southwestern United States. More recently, such observations have also been reported in other parts of the United States, as well as in Europe. These reports are particularly intriguing because they are difficult to reconcile with an experimental test program, since there would be no reason for test flights to be conducted in Europe. Rather, these reports would have to be understood in the context of the deployment of an operational aircraft."

Skyquakes: They're back!

Opinion: Pentagon security is becoming a joke.

Editor's note: P.W. Singer is director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution and author of "Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century," which is being published in paperback on December 29.

(CNN) -- It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster: A group of insurgents hack into American military drones, using software they got off the Internet, according to The Wall Street Journal. But, for the benefit of that screenwriter likely pounding away right now to get his idea in first -- as well as for the general public -- what actually happened?
Essentially, three trends are coming together in war.

First is the growing use of unmanned systems, something I explore in my book "Wired for War." Just a few years ago, the U.S. military had no interest in unmanned systems. Indeed, when the U.S. invaded Iraq, we had only a handful of unmanned systems in the air and zero on the ground in the invasion force, none of them armed.

Today, we have more than 7,000 in the air, ranging from the 48-foot-long Predator to tiny ones that can fit in a backpack, and 12,000 on the ground, such as the Packbot and Talon systems that hunt down roadside bombs. Many of these systems are armed, giving new meaning to the term "killer app."

This 180-degree turn to robotics, however, often came in an ad-hoc manner. The back-end networks didn't perfectly fit with the wide variety of unmanned systems that were being plugged in.
Even more, the pressure was on to push the systems out as rapidly as possible, for very good reason. There was a war on, and these unmanned systems were proving to be far more useful to our troops than what the regular Pentagon acquisitions process had been providing.
One robotics company executive described how he couldn't even get his phone calls returned a few years ago. Now, he was told, "Make them as fast as you can."

Second, though, was a dash of arrogance. In not coming through the regular planning and purchasing system, many of the systems used proprietary software as well as commercial, off-the-shelf hardware. So many of the communications feeds going back and forth were poorly protected, and, in some cases, not even encrypted.

This was the case, for example, for some of the overhead surveillance video feeds that the unmanned systems were collecting and, in turn, beaming back both to command posts as well as to American patrols on the ground, who watch the feed off ROVER. (Akin to Dick Tracy's watch, this is a rugged video monitor a soldier can strap onto his or her arm or gear.)

The problem of the relatively open video feeds has been known for a while. Indeed, back during our operations in the Balkans, it was discovered that just about anyone in Eastern Europe with a satellite dish could watch live overhead footage of U.S. Special Operations forces going out on raids of suspected war criminals. One joker commented that it was harder to tap into the Disney Channel.

But the Pentagon assumed that foes in the Middle East wouldn't be smart enough to figure this out, and underestimated how quickly the technology to tap in to the feeds would advance, becoming cheaper and widely available. The problems were not fixed, and more and more of these relatively open systems were deployed.

Unfortunately, we all know what happens when we "assume" our enemies are dumb (they make something out of "u" and "me.").

Using a $26 software package called Skygrabber, originally designed to allow customers to download movies and songs off the Internet (none of them pirated, of course), insurgents were able to tap into the various U.S. military video feeds, The Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. forces became aware of it after they captured a Shiite militia member in Iraq, whose laptop had files of the pirated footage saved on it.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT CNN

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Seized weapons from North Korea were bound for iIan

By DANIEL MICHAELS and MARGARET COKER

A plane loaded with weapons from North Korea that was recently impounded in Bangkok was bound for Iran, according to documents obtained by arms-trafficking experts.

The destination of the Ilyushin-76, which Thai authorities have said carried 35 tons of armaments, has been unknown. Thai officials said the plane flew to Pyongyang via Bangkok two weeks ago to collect its cargo, then returned to Bangkok to refuel on Dec. 11. It was seized during that stop and its five crew members were detained by police.

Thai officials say the plane was due to fly next to Sri Lanka, but Sri Lankan officials say they had no knowledge of the flight.
Read More

* NZ Man Unaware of Korean Weapons

A flight plan for the IL-76, obtained by researchers in the U.S. and Belgium, shows that after Bangkok the plane was due to make refueling stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine before unloading its cargo in Tehran. Iranian officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

The flight plan also indicates that en route to Pyongyong the plane stopped at an air force base in Azerbaijan, although the nature of that stop is unclear. Azerbaijani officials couldn't be reached for comment.

The new information is presented in a joint draft report by analysts at TransArms, based in Chicago, and the International Peace Information Service, or IPIS, based in Antwerp, Belgium. Both organizations conduct research on conflicts around the world, including how they are financed and supplied with weapons. A draft copy of the report was provided to The Wall Street Journal.

The report hasn't been independently confirmed.

It remains unclear where the weapons would have gone from Iran. Western governments have accused Iran of supporting militants in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Iraq. Thai officials have said the weapons found are unusual in Southeast Asia.

Thai officials say they have received little information from the plane's crew, who come from Kazakhstan and Belarus. The crew members say they were told the cargo was oil-drilling equipment. The crew members have denied knowledge that there were weapons on board.

The flight documents obtained by TransArms and IPIS state that the cargo is "oil industry spare parts." The flight's planners appear to have worked hard to maintain appearances. A packing list includes eight categories of equipment, such as "Geothermal rigs spare parts -- model MTEC6" and "Bespoke mineral exploration machine -- spare parts". Each category includes the number of boxes on board, the weight of each box, the gross weight and dimensions in millimeters.

Thai officials have said the actual cargo included shoulder-launched missiles, large rockets, parts for surface-to-air missiles and electronic systems to control weapons.

Arms-trafficking specialists have puzzled over the plane's stop in Bangkok, an airport that is heavily policed because of the drug trade in Thailand. "This is an unusual flight plan for general cargo, but if it's for an arms flight, it doesn't make any sense," said Peter Danssaert, an arms-trade researcher at IPIS involved in preparing the report. He said the flight plan and detailed cargo list suggest the crew may have been unaware of what they were carrying.

A major question that remains unanswered is who organized the weapons shipment, but it appears the planners went to great lengths to hide their identities. The plane is registered in the Republic of Georgia to a Georgian company, Air West Ltd. Air West on Nov. 5 leased it to another company, SP Trading Ltd., according to an Air West manager and a contract seen by The Wall Street Journal. SP Trading is registered in New Zealand and appears to be only a shell company owned by other companies.

In another contract dated Dec. 4, discussed in the report by TransArms and IPIS and seen by the Journal, SP Trading leased the plane to another company, based in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong company is owned by a second Hong Kong company, which is owned in turn by a third company, based in the British Virgin Islands, according to company registration documents. These companies appear to have organized the cargo.

An Air West manager said the company had leased the plane to SP Trading and he knew no more. Officials from SP Trading couldn't be located.

In addition, the Georgian-registered Ilyushin-76 cargo plane is actually owned by a company based in the United Arab Emirates, according to information in the draft report and confirmed by Georgian aviation officials. The company, Overseas Cargo FZE, is based in Sharjah, one of UAE's seven emirates. A spokeswoman for the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority said the agency had no record of the plane being owned by a Sharjah company, although aviation specialists say this isn't unusual.

A U.A.E. official confirmed that the Ilyushin-76 landed in the country on the evening of Dec. 9. The plane refueled and took off just over two hours later with an empty cargo hold, the official said. The plane didn't return to the U.A.E. before it was seized by the Thai authorities, the official said. The stop agrees with the flight plan in the arms-trafficking report.

Overseas Cargo's registration documents, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal in Sharjah, describe it as both an aircraft-leasing and -handling firm as well as an oil-services consulting company. The documents say it has one shareholder, Svetlana Zykova, who lists a permanent address in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Two women at Overseas Cargo's office in Sharjah referred inquiries to Ms. Zykova. Ms. Zykova was contacted on a U.A.E.-listed mobile phone. The woman who answered identified herself as Svetlana Zykova, confirmed she was the owner of Overseas Cargo, and then hung up when she was asked about her company's connections to the plane seized in Thailand.

If Overseas Cargo or other companies in the UAE are linked to the shipment, it could mark a setback for local officials, who say they have been cracking down on shell companies located in the country's multiple free-trade zones. The crackdown is aimed at hindering the flow of weapons and dual-use technologies to Iran that have been forbidden under United Nations sanctions. Objects that indirectly could aid Iran in building a nuclear weapon, such as state-of-the-art computer equipment, are considered dual-use technologies.

UAE officials have boasted of their tight regulation at the Dubai port, one of the world's largest. Earlier this summer, authorities there seized a shipment of military hardware from North Korea aboard a vessel bound for Iran. The cargo was labeled "oil boring machines" but actually contained detonators and ammunition.

Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com and Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com

War game set to send Iran a message

Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. military's Missile Defense Agency will practice protecting the United States from a simulated Iranian missile attack next month in an exercise using the agency's newest missile-killing technology, Pentagon officials said Friday.

Previous tests have been focused on a missile trajectory that mimics an attack from North Korea, but the January test will have a trajectory and distance resembling an intercontinental ballistic missile launch from Iran.

At the same time, the agency will be testing its new "Capability-2" technology, with upgraded software and sensors loaded inside an interceptor missile that will be fired at the fake Iranian missile.

The Capability-2 technology is designed to eventually replace the existing hardware the United States has in its two missile defense bases in California and Alaska, according to Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

While intelligence assessments of that country's capabilities now suggest an Iranian ICBM threat is as far away as 2020, this test was planned more than three years ago, when the threat seemed much closer, Lehner said.

In the January test, the fake ICBM is slated to originate from the Missile Defense Agency's launch facility in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific while the interceptor missile will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to Lehner.

Missile defense tests have been likened to hitting a bullet with a bullet. This test will be even more difficult: It will be like hitting a bullet head-on with another bullet, because any launch from Iran would have a trajectory that would require a U.S. interceptor missile hitting the target directly, Lehner said.

The missiles will be flying at speeds of between 17,000 and 18,000 miles per hour, according to Lehner, about 3,000 mph faster than tests involving mock North Korean missiles. The speed will reduce the strike window, meaning the interceptor, also known as the "kill vehicle," will have to work even faster at identifying and striking the target missile.

The United States has only two missile defense bases, one at Vandenberg, with three missiles, and the other at Fort Greely, Arkansas, with 20 interceptor missiles at the ready.

Lehner said that if Iran were to launch an ICBM attack against the United States, the most likely defense option would be firing a missile from Alaska, because of the shorter distance around the globe.

The United States was prepared to put a third missile defense site in eastern Europe, but the Obama administration scrapped that option because of the reduced ICBM threat from Iran. In its place, the administration said it will move ships with the capability of shooting down short- and medium-range missile from Iran which, they say, pose a greater threat to Iran's neighbors and U.S. bases in the Middle East.