Balloonacies
August 5, 2010
Where do all the bugs go in the winter?
Perhaps they seek solitude in a sound channel high up in the upper atmosphere. Acoustical signatures have previously been sought out here in efforts to eavesdrop on ballistic missiles, efforts that engendered the much maligned mythos of Project Mogul.
Copycat effects, it would seem, of earlier atmospheric anomalies concerning both balloons and a bevvy of shadow forms. The flight of the Saladin, a balloon piloted precariously by one Walter Powell being a Fortean favorite. A well known member of parliament, amateur magic lanternist, Powell was also keen on aeronautical exploration.
His impromptu solo flight, advanced in the aftermath of an unexpected crash-landing, left the helpless aeronaut drifting seaward, and soon enough, far off into the noospheric yonder.
Reports the Tactical Reality Dictionary on “Ambiguous Information”: The amount of information to invalidate a hypothesis is significantly greater than the amount of information required to make an initial interpretation, and the early but incorrect impression tends to endure.
Relatedly, Powell’s airborne excursion provoked a wave of sightings. Premised on the possibility of an identifiable flying object, airships and scareships, strange lights and other aerial phenomena were reported en masse
Scattered debris created little confusion (publicly) of extra-terrestrial affairs. The press ascertained Powell’s fate in the watery depths of the English channel.
