A Mystery Over Alaska
Insight
Written by Condorman - 26 May 2023
Insight from a senior level aerospace engineer.
I have been patiently waiting for the U.S. government to release additional information about the three unidentified objects that were intercepted over North American soil a few days after the initial Chinese surveillance balloon.
These events are unprecedented in our history as no other missile interceptions over our continent have ever been made public.
But it appears no information is to be forthcoming, and the press has lost interest.
So, I decided to publish my own analysis on the Alaska object, which is the first and most interesting of the three, at least to me.
The Alaska object was detected by the new radar algorithms while flying in a northeasterly direction over northern Alaska at 40,000 ft.
Let’s look at all the information that was said about the object at the time:
Natasha Bertrand, CNN National Security reporter, tweeted the following:
For clarification, Gen. VanHerck is the head of NORAD and described it as a structure after he was briefed, which surely included images and videos taken by the F-22s and NRO satellites.
Several other descriptions and observations were published in numerous other articles (referenced by number at the end):
The Pentagon spokesman, Brig Gen Pat Ryder, told reporters that the object had been travelling at an altitude of 40,000ft (12,190 meters), which is about the same altitude as jet airliners.
The object was described as "cylindrical and silver-ish gray" and seemed to be floating, a U.S. official said.
Asked if was "balloon-like," the official said, "all I say is that it wasn't 'flying' with any sort of propulsion, so if that is 'balloon-like' well -- we just don't have enough at this point."
The preliminary descriptions of the objects’ appearances underscore the difficulty for administration officials in identifying their purpose or origin. Officials have been at a loss to say what the objects could be, and the initial descriptions have not lent any more clarity.
The object that was downed about 10 miles off the coast of northern Alaska on Friday was described as a metallic object that broke into several pieces when it hit the sea ice, according to multiple US officials. The break up into identifiable pieces suggests it may have had some sort of structure to it.
U.S. officials declined to speculate about what the object might be, even after a day of observation, raising questions about what kind of object could be so difficult to identify by experienced U.S. pilots and intelligence officials. It wasn't an aircraft per se, Ryder told a news briefing.
US military pilots sent up to examine the object gave conflicting accounts of what they saw, which is part of the reason why the Pentagon has been cautious in describing what the object actually is, according to a source briefed on the intelligence.
The pilots later gave differing reports of what they observed, the source briefed on the intelligence said. Some pilots said the object “interfered with their sensors” on the planes, but not all pilots reported experiencing that. Some pilots also claimed to have seen no identifiable propulsion on the object and could not explain how it was staying in the air, despite the object cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
The conflicting eyewitness accounts are partly why the Pentagon has been unable to fully explain what the object is, the source briefed on the matter said.
The aforementioned descriptions indicate a silver metallic cylinder about 15 ft long and the size of a small car similar to a Volkswagen Beetle. Here’s a possible depiction:
The object has a solid structure per the descriptions and analysis, which had to include radar and infrared signatures which would have immediately identified a standard balloon material such as mylar.
It is also not a small hybrid airship since they require aerodynamic steering and propulsion. Some of the initial F-35 pilots and/or the F-22 pilots claimed it interfered with their sensors.
And they also said they could not explain how it was staying in the air. And the final clue is that the object was described as a metallic object that broke into several pieces when it hit the sea ice, according to multiple US officials.
That again indicates a solid structure.
When this story first broke, I did some math to determine the size of a hydrogen (lighter than helium) filled balloon necessary to maintain an altitude at 40,000 ft over northern Alaska in February.
I did the calculations for three different structural weights for the cylinder. The cylinder has at least 275 squared ft of surface area plus whatever mechanism it’s carrying inside. At 500 lbs, the diameter of a circular balloon would need to be 166 ft, which dwarfs the object.
At 250 lbs, the diameter would be 38 ft, again dwarfing the object. And even if the object was made from amazing materials and weighed only 20 lbs, the diameter of the circular balloon would be 16 ft, still much larger than the 15x5 ft cylinder. So, a balloon filled with hydrogen just does not cut it as the answer.
That leaves us with the mystery of the nature of the metallic cylinder that flew on a straight path with the wind and did not tumble even though it had no aerodynamic surfaces and no visible propulsion.
If all the sources the reporters quoted are correct, our military and intelligence community saw something they could not identify or explain. Something that may even have interfered with their sensors, perhaps not intentionally but because of the nature of the technology.
I can think of two technology paths to power this vehicle. The first path requires extremely advanced nearly weightless materials that can house a vacuum chamber inside the cylinder. A real vacuum is obviously lighter than hydrogen since it has no mass.
Vacuum chambers require very strong materials so the combination of strength and light weight requires very advanced technology. In addition, the vehicle would need a lightweight power source that could ionize sections of the surface to keep it from deviating or tumbling in the wind.
The second technology path would use the holy grail, an antigravity device that would let the vehicle float and ride the wind with impunity. I do not know how to make one of those yet, so I won’t try to describe how one would work.