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Why So Many People Report Seeing UFOs in New Mexico

 The Soldersmoke blog referenced a post about a really cool missile tracking helical antenna. 

Soldersmoke reference to EI7GL's writeup of the antenna.

The specificity of the plaque down to the Marker Number reminded that the gang, my partner, and I had visited the White Sands Missile Range outdoor missile museum back in 2017.

Glancing through my pictures to see if we'd taken a look at the antenna, I came across this doozy


which had this plaque on display in front of it


I'm just saying here: when you have to start out with the sentence, "Not a flying saucer" and then follow up later with "action was initiated to start the vehicle spinning for stability" and then offhandedly mention that the vehicle traveled at 1.2 times the speed of sound before firing an explosive charge at apogee... ahem... Not a flying saucer indeed, but you know, totally a flying saucer :)

Here's the entire plaque text:

"Balloon Launched Decelerator Test Vehicle

Not a flying saucer, this Balloon Launched Decelerator Test (BLDT) Vehicle was used to test the Viking Mars Lander Decelerator in a simulated atmosphere of Mars. The decelerator system included parachute deployment. The vehicle's structural configuration provided an external envelope which simulated the Viking Lander Capsule in order to qualify the Decelerator in the wake of a blunt body similar to the actual Viking Lander Capsule.

The BLDT Vehicle was carried to high altitudes by a helium-filled balloon released at Roswell, New Mexico and drifted west with the prevailing wind as it gained altitude to approximately 120,000 feet (around 22 miles) as it reached White Sands Missile Range. At this point the BLDT Vehicle was released from the balloon, action was initiated to start the vehicle spinning for stability, and solid rockets were ignited. The four rockets, observable on the bottom of the vehicle, propelled the vehicle upward on an arched trajectory to an altitude of approximately 135,000 feet (26 miles). The vehicle speed at this time was approximately 1.2 times the speed of sound. As it neared the peak of its arch, action was initiated to stop the spin, and an explosive charge was detonated, which deployed a large parachute from a compartment in the bottom center of the vehicle. The vehicle then decelerated and floated to the ground where it was recovered.

The vehicle displayed here was the second of four tested by NASA at White Sands Missile Range in July and August 1972. This one was launched on July 26, 1972. The entire test lasted almost three hours."


Update!

Oh! And we did see the aforementioned antenna it turns out. Here's our picture from a different angle.


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