In such situations NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relationships
(OIIR) works with the State Department to obtain approvals to operate in, and/or
conduct flight operations within each country that a balloon might overfly. NASA
handles agreements on a State Level and CSBF handles agreements regarding the
specific launch facility (local government authorities, airport authorities, etc.) and
launch/overflight/termination within each country (the FAA or equivalent). CSBF
will keep groups informed on what to expect (most of this is handled by emails or
phone calls). Generally no government official is required on site, although a VIP
visit might be arranged in certain situations.
9.4 MILITARY AND SECURITY
9.4.1 Air Force
The Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB got its start in 1947 after the Air Materiel
Command of what was then the Army Air Force awarded a contract to New York
University (NYU) to develop and fly high altitude balloons. In those days, U.S.
authorities were aware of the fact that probably the Soviets were pursuing their
own atomic bomb, so the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) initiated a study of
long range detection of nuclear detonations through the so called “atmospheric
sound channel”. They used stratospheric balloons equipped with low frequency
acoustic detectors that would “hear” the compression waves generated by such a
test. The codename of this secret program was MOGUL. It began by using large
trains of neoprene balloons, but then it switched to the innovative polyethylene
balloons developed by General Mills, Inc., of Minneapolis.
The first balloon launches of the program took place on early June 1947, under
the guidance of a NYU team with the support of the recently created Air Force
Balloon Operations unit. A “service” flight performed on June 4th with several neoprene balloons failed soon after launch and descended on the ranch of W.W. Brazel
in New Mexico. When the debris was noticed the next morning, it led to national
headlines of the crash of a “flying saucer”. This became known as the “Roswell
Incident” and one of the cornerstones of the UFO myth. Several other missions followed that first ill-fated test flight. The first MOGUL mission using several polyethylene balloons in tandem was launched on July 3rd. These early flights paved the
way for the creation of one of the most active balloon facilities in the U.S.
By 1948 launches were being made by Holloman AFB personnel, who were later
organized as the Balloon Branch within the Electronic and Atmospheric Projects
section at Holloman operated by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories
(AFCRL). On July 21, 1950 the Balloon Branch started flights with the launch of
the first polyethylene balloon devoted to performing atmospheric sampling.
In June 1951, Air Force HQ approved a project proposed by AFCRL to obtain
more accurate data on high altitude winds by using instrumented polyethylene balloons. This initiative started at Holloman under the name of project MOBY DICK
9.4 Military and Security 225
(OIIR) works with the State Department to obtain approvals to operate in, and/or
conduct flight operations within each country that a balloon might overfly. NASA
handles agreements on a State Level and CSBF handles agreements regarding the
specific launch facility (local government authorities, airport authorities, etc.) and
launch/overflight/termination within each country (the FAA or equivalent). CSBF
will keep groups informed on what to expect (most of this is handled by emails or
phone calls). Generally no government official is required on site, although a VIP
visit might be arranged in certain situations.
9.4 MILITARY AND SECURITY
9.4.1 Air Force
The Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB got its start in 1947 after the Air Materiel
Command of what was then the Army Air Force awarded a contract to New York
University (NYU) to develop and fly high altitude balloons. In those days, U.S.
authorities were aware of the fact that probably the Soviets were pursuing their
own atomic bomb, so the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) initiated a study of
long range detection of nuclear detonations through the so called “atmospheric
sound channel”. They used stratospheric balloons equipped with low frequency
acoustic detectors that would “hear” the compression waves generated by such a
test. The codename of this secret program was MOGUL. It began by using large
trains of neoprene balloons, but then it switched to the innovative polyethylene
balloons developed by General Mills, Inc., of Minneapolis.
The first balloon launches of the program took place on early June 1947, under
the guidance of a NYU team with the support of the recently created Air Force
Balloon Operations unit. A “service” flight performed on June 4th with several neoprene balloons failed soon after launch and descended on the ranch of W.W. Brazel
in New Mexico. When the debris was noticed the next morning, it led to national
headlines of the crash of a “flying saucer”. This became known as the “Roswell
Incident” and one of the cornerstones of the UFO myth. Several other missions followed that first ill-fated test flight. The first MOGUL mission using several polyethylene balloons in tandem was launched on July 3rd. These early flights paved the
way for the creation of one of the most active balloon facilities in the U.S.
By 1948 launches were being made by Holloman AFB personnel, who were later
organized as the Balloon Branch within the Electronic and Atmospheric Projects
section at Holloman operated by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories
(AFCRL). On July 21, 1950 the Balloon Branch started flights with the launch of
the first polyethylene balloon devoted to performing atmospheric sampling.
In June 1951, Air Force HQ approved a project proposed by AFCRL to obtain
more accurate data on high altitude winds by using instrumented polyethylene balloons. This initiative started at Holloman under the name of project MOBY DICK
9.4 Military and Security 225