By Brett Carter
...As detailed in a now declassified U.S. Navy report, (click here) the event sparked an immediate investigation about the potential cause(s) of the random detonations of so many sea mines.
The sea mines deployed had a self-destruct feature. But the minimum self-destructs time on these mines was not for another 30 days, so something else was to blame.
On August 15, 1972, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Bernard Clarey, asked about a hypothesis that solar activity could have caused the mine detonations.
Many of the mines deployed were magnetic influence sea mines that were designed to detonate when they detected changes in the magnetic field.
Solar activity was then well known to cause magnetic field changes, but it wasn't clear whether or not the Sun could cause these unintentional detonations....
No, the F-35 is not immune to solar activity. Trillions of dollars of USA taxpayer money and the lousy jet can fall out of the sky with unknown missile capacity. Amazing. Whoever sold us this piece of junk should be sued for every last dime. Being imprisoned for fraud and an assault on our national defense is too good for them.
By Senior Airman Aaron Montoya
It’s 332,946 times the mass of Earth and has surface temperatures reaching 9,932 degrees, which is capable of disrupting satellites, power grids and even pilots flying at high altitudes. The sun launches these attacks arising from its surface with a massive burst of gas and magnetic fields called a coronal mass ejection.
The Airmen at the Holloman Solar Observatory are the hub of monitoring volatile solar activity and training others to do so as well.
"The Air Force has three solar observatories," said Master Sgt. Ronald Sherard, the chief of the Detachment 4, 2nd Weather Squadron. "We have one at Holloman, one in Learmonth, Australia and one in San Vito, Italy. Holloman is the focal point for the entire (Air Force) Solar Optical Observing Network around the world. Becoming an analyst with the 2nd Weather Squadron on the solar optical side means you will come to Holloman to receive training."
Although few in number, the Air Force solar observatories play a critical role in keeping the Air Force way of life running. A single solar storm could disrupt the Air Force way of life.
"We monitor the sun for solar activity, and we report any activity that occurs," said Staff Sgt. Erin O'Connell, a solar analyst with Det. 4, 2nd WS. "The information goes up to key decision makers who decide to deploy safeguard measures on satellites, power grids or to alert pilots in high-altitude aircraft."...
