The use of a new combination of radars could enhance UAP detection
The use of a new combination of radars could enhance UAP detection
Considered to be one of the best possible scientific evidence of the presence of UAPs in the atmosphere, radar traces are nevertheless rarely available to the public.
Physicist and electrical engineer Mitch Randall hopes to solve that problem.
Radars work like echo machines: they emit an electromagnetic wave that is reflected by an object, forming an echo. An antenna then records this echo. By measuring the time between signal emission and echo reception, the distance to the object can be measured. Further, by measuring the change in distance between two echo receptions, the speed of the object can be determined. However, for this to work, the object must be slower than the radar’s sweep; otherwise, the object would simply appear as a disappearing dot. Meteorological radars, with their long sweep times, are not well-suited for tracking down UAPs, even though their data is publicly available. Air traffic control does use active radars, but for flight safety reasons, the data is not accessible to the public. Additionally, given the volume of flights, this data is not kept if incidents are not reported.
Since World War II and the use of windows (chaff) to modify aircraft radar signatures, there has been an ongoing battle between increasing radar capacity on the one hand and developing stealth technologies on the other. This dichotomy, aimed at reducing or manipulating EM echo in the event of a radar scan, continues today.
The first passive radars were demonstrated in 1935 during the Davenport experiment, when a bomber was detected 12 km away by the reflection of the BBC radio emitter waves on its fuselage. This type of setup, with the transmitter in one place and the receiver in another, is known as ‘bistatic’. The term “passive” refers to using a third-party source of radiation to supply the electromagnetic wave without its knowledge.
As early as World War II, passive radar was used by German troops to observe the British coastline, using British EM signals against their own aircraft.
Since passive radar does not emit an electromagnetic pulse, it lacks the time resolution, but it provides a continuous signature of the object. The signal therefore has to be considerably refined before it can be used, but that way radar data is available at a very low cost.
Mitch Randall's plan, nicknamed SkyWatch, is to raise funds to develop this solution specifically for UAP research. His website states:
Other existing technologies bring SkyWatch to life, too, but require professional designing that's specific to SkyWatch. These include the physical engineering of the radar receivers; signal filtering and processing of the data; and creating a user interface - the animated map that displays information about objects that SkyWatch finds. An associated mobile app will leverage SkyWatch data to give SkyWatch participants a heads-up so they can be ready to capture video of approaching anomalous objects - the coveted ‘multi-sensor data’ that scientists seek.
These next steps involve technologies that are already established, but require the labor of specialized technicians like mechanical and software engineers. Philanthropic or grant support is needed to make SkyWatch complete, with inexpensive radar receivers, centralized data processing, and a strategy for sustaining the network of privately-owned SkyWatch receivers. If you might have capacity to support this important project, please contact Mitch Randall at mitchrandall@ascendantai.com.
During an interview with Matt Ford, released October 25, 2024, Randall explained:
what if a UFO stopped your car, like we’ve heard happened in the past, and you got out, you looked at it, it flew off, but actually it was also recorded on this system as radar data, that would be tremendous.
Such initiatives are not new. Another example is UAP Tracker, operated by Paul Wright, which also uses a “passive forward scatter radar”, made possible by the RTL2832U V3 dongle with free software SDR Console V3 and Spectrum Lab” on a Sky 360 observation station base since 2019.
Dr John Sahr, an electrical engineer, has also been working on passive radar applications for drone tracking. He is aiming to develop a nationwide network of VHF passive radar receivers for ionospheric research.
Having a network of detectors in a given area would undeniably boost confidence in eyewitness accounts.