Pop Sci article mentions Groom Lake

From: "James R. Graham" 
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 97 19:46:18 -0700
Subject: Pop Sci article mentions Groom Lake

Hi all,

The May '97 issue of Popular Science has an article, "Hiding in Plane
Sight", which mentions Groom Lake and what is being tested there. I quote:

"...Defense contractors have told Popular Science that even more exotic
skin is being tested on two stealth aircraft at the high-security Groom
Lake airbase in Nevada. The skin is derived from an electromagnetically
conductive polyaniline-based radar-absorbant composite material. It is
optically transparent except when electrically charged, much like the
LCDs used in laptop computers.

"What makes this new material attractive is that it can change brightness
and color instantaneously. Photo-sensitive receptors, mounted on all
sides of the plane, read the ambient light and color of the sky and
ground. An onboard computer adjusts the brightness, hue, and texture of
the skin to match the sky above the plane or the terrain below it.

"...Using fast-changing electrochromic panels, the military is
experimenting with 'fllickering skins' that could prevent missiles from
locking onto their targets. In demonstrations at Groom Lake, engineers
have turned the entire skin of an aircraft into a missile jammer by
applying a special coating that flickers in intensity in both the visible
and infrared spectra..."

The article is very informative (to a layman) and I encourage everyone to
check it out. This is the first I heard of actual details of tests at
Groom Lake that could explain some of the funky lights seen cruising
around out there.

james