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Glints in the desert may be military hardware

[Responding to a Las Vegas journalist regarding a glint seen on
a mountainside near Las Vegas.  The glint, which can only be seen
at a certain time of the day, was reported by at least two different
residents.  It is beneath an area where jets from Nellis Air Force
Base frequently fly. The article can be found in a previous
posting to this list or at...
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1997/Jun-24-Tue-1997/news/5599885.html]


I have hunted down a lot of glints in the desert.  Typically, I am
driving along a lonely desert highway when a light on a hillside
catches my eye. Glints in remote areas aren't natural and almost
always indicate some kind of man-made material, namely glass, plastic
or a non-corrosive metal.  Some smooth rocks can give off a dull
sheen, but not the kind of hard reflection that draws ones attention.

The object causing the reflection can be relatively small.  Even the
glint of a cosmetic mirror can be seen miles away if it is aimed
right.

In my experience, glints in the Nevada desert are caused by one of the
following:

-- Radio equipment, like repeaters.  These are usually on the top of
mountains, however, not on the side.

-- Water reservoirs for wildlife, installed by BLM or the Wildlife
service.  These are half-buried tanks for storing rainwater to sustain
small game in the area.  These are only in areas accessible by 4WD,
however.

-- Crashed aircraft or aircraft parts.  One glint did lead me to a
crashed F-4 near Rachel.  Other glints have been only smaller parts of
aircraft, like the ejected canopy from a plane that crashed elswhere.

-- Tow targets, once towed by aircraft for target practice.  These are
a very common source of glints, since the Air Force used to cut them
loose after use.  They are big plywood "darts" sheathed in metal.
Their surface area can be quite large, so they give off a strong
reflection.  These can be "heartbreakers" for aviation enthusiasts,
who may spend a lot of time getting to the glint hoping it is an
aircraft, only to find this relatively uninteresting device.

-- One interesting glint I saw in the desert near Area 51 turned out
to be a hollow aluminum ball, about 24 inches in diameter.  It was
seamless and very light.  These balls are apparently dropped from
airplanes to calibrate radar, since the radar return from a sphere is
always constant.  Once the balls are dropped, they become dented on
one side and therefore useless.  Near Area 51, the Air Force punches
holes in the used ones and puts them on the top of posts to act as
boundary markers.  (Or "surveilance pods" to the UFO watchers.)

Of course, if the glint is in an area readily accessible by the
public, it could be any manner of terrestrial trash.  On rugged
mountainsides, however, it has to be something that fell from the sky.

Glenn


Ufomind Index: Nellis Air Force Base and Range
Ufomind Index: Nellis Range UFO

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|    GLENN CAMPBELL - Government Disinformation Agent     |
|             "Who does he really work for?"              |
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