Project Mogul

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Project Mogul (sometimes referred to as Operation Mogul) was a top secret project by the US Army Air Forces involving high altitude balloons, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of sound waves generated by the turbulence of the rising hot air from Soviet atomic bomb tests and ballistic missiles. The project was carried out from 1947 until late 1948 and was obsoleted by seismographs and spy satellites.

Project Mogul was conceived by Dr. Maurice Ewing who had earlier researched the deep sound channel in the oceans and theorized that a similar sound channel existed in the upper atmosphere: a certain height where the air pressure and temperature result in minimal speed of sound, so that sound waves would propagate and stay in that channel due to refraction. The project involved arrays of balloons carrying microphones (disc mounted) and radio transmitters to relay the signals to the ground. It was supervised by Dr. James Peoples, who was assisted by Dr. Albert P. Crary.

One of the requirements of the balloons was that they maintain a relatively constant altitude over a prolonged period of time. (See aerostat) The early Mogul balloons consisted of large clusters of rubber meteorological balloons. However, these were quickly replaced by enormous balloons made of polyethylene plastic. These were more durable, leaked less helium, and also were better at maintaining a constant altitude than the early rubber balloons. Constant altitude control and polyethylene balloons were the two major innovations of Project Mogul.

The project was moderately successful, but was very expensive and was superseded by seismic detectors which were cheaper and easier to deploy and operate.

Project Mogul was the forerunner of the Skyhook balloon program, which started in the late 1940s, as well as another espionage program involving overflights and photo-surveillance of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, called Project Moby Dick^[1]. The latter raised storms of protest from the Soviets. The balloons were also used for cosmic ray experiments.

[edit] Project Mogul and the Roswell UFO incident

Main article: Air Force reports on the Roswell UFO incident

Wreckage consistent with launch number four was found 75 miles northwest of Roswell^[2]
A. Roswell B. Alamogordo C. Area of wreckage D. Albuquerque

In 1994/5, the Air Force published a report suggesting that Mogul Flight #4, launched from Alamogordo, New Mexico on June 4, 1947, was what crashed near Roswell, New Mexico and formed the source of the debris which sparked the Roswell UFO incident. The report suggested that a combination of government secrecy about Mogul and personnel unfamiliar with Mogul equipment led to rumors of alien spacecraft.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Report on Project Mogul - Synopsis of Balloon Research Findings, by James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR
• Physics lecture video in which Prof. Richard A. Muller gives a detailed explanation of the science of Project Mogul (Google Video)