Posted on 03/03/2003 11:47:30 AM PST by chance33_98
Freak Cyprus Tornado Columbia STS-107: The ''Real'' Story???
On January 27, 2003 at around 10 a.m., an unusually powerful tornado struck the island of Cyprus, sweeping through the coastal city of Limassol, extensively damaging shops and homes, uprooting trees, tearing apart roofs and overturning vehicles. The enormous storm marked the first of its kind to hit the Middle East and Cyprus.
Shortly following, an amazing story regarding the rare tornado had started circulating the Internet. Albawaba has obtained a copy of the story and is delighted to share it with our readers:
At the time of the tornado, Israels main media channels and newspapers were in contact with sources in the meteorology sector, the Israeli Army and Air Force, as they were interested in finding out the cause behind the rare phenomenon of the gigantic tornado, which hit the Mediterranean Sea. The army and other sources, on their part, said they had no information regarding the developments in Cyprus or Limassol.
At the exact same time, in three different locations - - at Houston Space Center, the Israeli Air Force Headquarters somewhere in Tel Aviv area and Space Shuttle Columbia - hundreds of Israeli Air Force members and meteorology experts celebrated the success of the joint experiment carried out between the Israeli Air Force and NASAs Space Center. The experiment was entitled: The creation of an artificial tornado, aided by dust storms.
After nearly two weeks in space, as Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 passed above the eastern part of the Mediterranean across Israel, the final phase of the experiment was activated. This was an experiment in which dozens of Israeli and US Air Force aircraft took part in and which required large amounts of resources and high-technology equipment.
The cover story for this experiment was joint regional training between foreign Air Forces and the Israeli Air Force. Each of the heavy aircraft that flew played a role in the experiment to produce the First artificial tornado.
The man in charge of supervising the entire experiment from Space Shuttle Columbia, on behalf of the Israeli Air Force was Ilan Ramon - Israels first man in space. A Colonel in the Israeli Air Force, Ramon was a fighter pilot who was the only payload specialist on STS-107. According to NASA, as a member of the Red Team, Ramon was the prime crewmember for the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX), a multi-spectral camera that measured small dust particles (dust aerosols) in the atmosphere over the Mediterranean and the Saharan coast of the Atlantic.
Back to the tornado, four and a half years of research and joint experiments, which intensified up until the peak moment in which the tornado was created were fulfilled. The cover story for the experiment, which was revolutionary in its implications, was the effect of the dust system in the air on the production of rain. The assumption that the Israeli top scientists assumed was that it is possible to create by means of dust coming from Africa and other various additives injected into the air from aircraft, situated at different altitudes, a hurricane or a tornado.
Actually, the enormous success of the experiment resulted in a side effect, which found its expression in tremendous amounts of rain which have recently fallen throughout Israel, from the start of the experiment till it reached its peak on January 27 in the lethal tornado that hit Limassol.
The main reason that the tornado did not stay in the heart of the sea, across the territorial waters of Israel, but instead moved north to Cyprus was the sharp change in the blow of winds that dragged it to an unexpected destination, and that constitutes one central lesson learned.
It is unnecessary, of course, to explain the implications of the possibility of creating a tornado according to order or to direct it to a certain place or chosen destination and to activate it above a specific city or region.
It is possible to use this effect for blessed purposes such as the transfer of water to arid regions or the creation of large amounts of rain, which are to fall down according to demand and location. It is also possible to use this effect for military purposes and to create total chaos in a given region and for a fixed period of time.
What exactly went on aboard Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 regarding the tornado experiment and many other scientific experiments will always remain a mystery, as the shuttle disintegrated nearly 70 kilometers above the Earth, just a few minutes before its scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Columbia broke up during re-entry on February 1, killing all seven astronauts on board, including Ilan Ramon.
With regards to the specific details concerning the tornado experiment, it seems the world will never completely really know who and what were exactly behind the experiment, how it worked, was organized and activated and who originally came up with the idea. Unfortunately, any information regarding the experiment perished and vanished into spaces never-ending vastness, along with other secrets aboard Columbia STS-107. (Albawaba.com)
Bet the folks at DU will lap this up. They believe anything.
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