[Flotsam_Jetsome]

Thanks for the Ping.

"But, just 24 hours later, the military retracted their earlier statement and claimed the object they had first thought was a 'flying disc' was a weather balloon that had crashed on a nearby ranch."

That's because the "UFO" debris found actually was the remnant of a crashed device called a "corner reflector" that was being used to detect, at long-range, Soviet nuclear blasts, and that project was probably secret enough to warrant intervention, story-wise on the part of the government.

I used to do electronics warfare for a living, and am quite confident the wreckage shown in this photo

is easily identified as most likely what's left of such a construct.

Here's a picture of one that's intact:

They are used to capture and focus faint radio signals into a stronger signal. In order to carry one aloft that was large enough to be very sensitive and yet light enough to be borne there by a weather balloon, it needed to be constructed out of light materials, like say aluminum foil or mylar hung on a balsam wood frame, which appears to be the very thing shown in the first photo.

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I read the thread where Quix got the Zot. Seemed pretty permanent to me at the time. I believe there was an Opus involved and everything.

[OwenKellogg]

I read the thread where Quix got the Zot. Seemed pretty permanent to me at the time. I believe there was an Opus involved and everything.

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Opus here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2902837/posts

[rodguy911]

Just ignore the writing on the other side of the paper Gen. Ramey is holding in his hand,its all swamp gas.

[doorgunner69]

They are used to capture and focus faint radio signals into a stronger signal

I hope you do not "do" electronics warfare for a living these days. Frankly, you do not know what the heck you are talking about.

A corner reflector is just that, a freaking reflector! It is very useful to enhance small radar return objects like sailboats and buoys (why you see them on masts so often, duh) and as markers for radar ranges. Because they have a very predictable sigma, they are very useful for RCS measurement calibration. They also have the convenient feature of returning that strong reflection over wide incoming angles, unlike a flat plate, so positioning is not critical.

And yes, I did spend decades really doing this stuff. What you might be confusing things with as far as focus is a parabolic reflector, another thing entirely, and part of an antenna or telescope normally. Such a thing needs precise aiming, so unlikely to be carried up by balloon with no means of angular positioning.

[WoofDog123]

jesse handled material from the crash (I believe his father in in that picture) and was adamant that it was not what you say (he eventually was in contact with all the balloons theorized). He posted here about it periodically on these type threads.