Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Giant Lines in Chinese Desert for Targeting
Human Events ^ | 11/16/2011 | Neil W. McCabe

Posted on 11/19/2011 2:37:42 PM PST by neverdem

A former China-desk Army intelligence analyst and co-author of a new book about Chinese-American relations, told HUMAN EVENTS November 15 that the strange giant white lines drawn in western China's Gobi Desert were most likely practice targets for Chinese space weapons.

“Usually when we think of space weaponry, we are talking about horizontal targeting by satellites firing on other satellites—to take your eyes out,” said William C. Triplett II, who with Brett M. Decker, wrote Bowing to Beijing: How Barack Obama is Hastening America's Decline and Ushering A Century of Chinese Domination.

The former analyst said at first he was skeptical.

“I have been waiting to hear that the images were Photoshopped,” he said. After two days, he came to seriously consider what the lines were with other members of his community of China watchers. “It is all we are talking about.”

There are three images in question. Two are white lines drawn on the desert floor without regard for the topography. One of the two has lines inside a rectangle and the other has lines loose without a box border. The third is a series of concentric circles.

The image without the box could be an airbase with runways on the left side, he said. It could not be a city or town because unlike the boxed image, the boulevards are not long enough and are not laid out in a practical way.

After ruling out the new cities, Triplett said there are three factors that lead him to think that are tied to the Chinese space weaponry program.

First, the images are close to the Chinese government's military space headquarters, which has long-been centered in the western desert, he said.

Second, the Chinese are developing powerful space-based weapons that have the ability to fire on earth and they have always tested their weapon systems away from populations, both for safety and security reasons, he said.

The third reason is that the lines are consistent with the practice of large modeling, he said.

“Modeling is very popular in Asia,” he said. “There is a famous photo of a Japanese mock-up of Pearl Harbor with men walking around it with rubber boots.”

The Chinese are famous for their three-dimensional models, too, he said. “In Wuhan, the Chinese built a life-size American aircraft carrier.”

The Chinese love using models and to see models from space, they have to be very large, he said.

Of the three images found on Google maps, Triplett said the one with concentric circles with easily discernible trucks and aircraft was the easiest to identify. “It is an atomic bomb test site.”

It is not uncommon to leave equipment at test sites, he said. The American military did the same thing after its desert tests.

Triplett said early in his career in the late 1960s, he became familiar with test sites in China.

“I was the youngest guy in the office, so while everyone else was watching the Cultural Revolution, I was told to keep my eye on the Western desert,” he said. It was during this time, as an Army analyst on loan to another federal agency that Triplett was the first American to report that the Chinese had conducted the only known test of a missile with an armed nuclear warhead.

“Many people thought it was irresponsible, they never did it again,” he said. “Back in those days, we were mostly worried that the Chinese would get into Vietnam, like they did Korea.”

Images courtesy of Google Maps.



TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; Testing
KEYWORDS: bigdeal; china; clintonlegacy; consequences; default; satellitecalibration; satellitetargets; sowhat; spaceweaponry
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

1 posted on 11/19/2011 2:37:44 PM PST by neverdem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: neverdem

While Obama fiddles, the Chinese build.


2 posted on 11/19/2011 2:42:14 PM PST by samtheman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Chinese space weapons targeting map

Downtown London

3 posted on 11/19/2011 2:48:16 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Did You Know?

The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?

Now That You Do, Donate And Keep FR Running


4 posted on 11/19/2011 2:49:36 PM PST by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem; Steely Tom
Actually they are for calibrating surveillance satellites. Steely Tom beat quite a few folks to it, who also guessed it was a calibration system.
5 posted on 11/19/2011 2:51:51 PM PST by af_vet_rr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: samtheman
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the EAST might be prepared.Revelation 16:12

Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. Revelation 9:16

The Scripture is clear that an army of 200 million will march to Israel. It makes clear that the Euphrates River will dry up. History has shown this river has been dry at other times. Clearing the way for this army to march west toward Israel. The only nation on earth that can field a 200 million person army is CHINA! China will be there at the Tribulation. Only the Lord will be able to defeat them. Not any army of this world.

6 posted on 11/19/2011 3:00:27 PM PST by RetiredArmy (The End of Days draws near. In this time, you should be drawing closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

I wonder how many volumes were in the Environmental Impact Study for these structures.


7 posted on 11/19/2011 3:06:30 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RetiredArmy

Why would an army of 200,000,000 march to Israel when nuclear bombs could wipe out Israel in a flash ?


8 posted on 11/19/2011 3:25:35 PM PST by sushiman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: RetiredArmy

Revelation makes it clear that the army of 200 million will have the living ....stomped out of it.

Those verses used to scare me as a child...hearing them spoken in the chapel at Fort Buchanan, PR, back in the mid 70’s.


9 posted on 11/19/2011 3:44:53 PM PST by Levante
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: sushiman
Why would an army of 200,000,000 march to Israel when nuclear bombs could wipe out Israel in a flash ?

To get to the other side (of the Jordan)?
10 posted on 11/19/2011 3:55:13 PM PST by kenavi (1% of the 1% were born in the 1%.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: sushiman

Think of what a lovely target-rich environment an infantry army of 200M would make for the Israeli nukes!

More to the point, has anyone looked at the terrain and distance between China and Israel? The logistics of a movement of that size army across that terrain is quite beyond what is possible. Even if the entire world cooperated to make it happen.


11 posted on 11/19/2011 4:10:30 PM PST by Sherman Logan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: sushiman
Why would an army of 200,000,000 march to Israel when nuclear bombs could wipe out Israel in a flash?

That's because the ruler of the world - who can easily assemble a 200 million strong army (that is far larger than all armies on Earth combined) - doesn't have an access to a nuclear bomb. I guess Kim Jong-il asked too much in hard currency. It's not cheap to maintain a 200 million army, especially when it is needed only to conquer a tiny state with only 8 million inhabitants.

12 posted on 11/19/2011 4:12:30 PM PST by Greysard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: af_vet_rr

13 posted on 11/19/2011 4:22:49 PM PST by Steely Tom (Obama goes on long after the thrill of Obama is gone)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: sushiman

Missle Defense?


14 posted on 11/19/2011 4:27:08 PM PST by right tech
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: neverdem; Michael Rivero; All

The Chinese have some good ideas...

http://www.thechinamoneyreport.com/2011/11/10/chinese-fund-managers-sentenced-to-death-after-cheating-investors-out-of-1-billion-usd/

Long-ago FReeper, Michael Rivero, had the 1st comment (scroll down).


15 posted on 11/19/2011 4:35:28 PM PST by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: neverdem

That couldn’t be true. According to our great, multi-partisan business, political and academic leaders who conspire with the PLA and other fascist governments against us, China’s been collapsing for over four years and is too genetically stupid to hurt a flea.


17 posted on 11/19/2011 4:57:43 PM PST by familyop ("Don't worry, they'll row for a month before they figure out I'm fakin' it." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

All contributions are for the
Current Quarter Expenses.


18 posted on 11/19/2011 5:49:13 PM PST by RedMDer (Forward With Confidence!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Sherman Logan

“More to the point, has anyone looked at the terrain and distance between China and Israel? The logistics of a movement of that size army across that terrain is quite beyond what is possible”

Chinese armies (mongol to be exact) have gone further in times past and all they had was horses. All it takes is the will and the power. God says it will happen. Will it be the Chinese, nobody really knows.


19 posted on 11/19/2011 5:49:53 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver

The Mongols went all the way to Germany.

But there weren’t 200M of them. More like 20,000.

The Mongols did, however, manage to kill roughly 10% of the world’s population. No other group has ever come close to that feat.

They also were far more efficient killers than the Nazis. The maximum output for a 24-hour day at Auschwitz was 24,000. The Mongols routinely killed several times that many people in a hour or so. All done with edged weapons.

Which pretty much blows a hole in the idea that mass killing requires technology.


20 posted on 11/19/2011 6:03:28 PM PST by Sherman Logan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson