Message posted by Joerg (Webmaster) (Member since 10/17/2000) on September 07, 2023 at 18:25:13 PST:
Excellent analysis, thank you for taking the time! Without going into as much technical detail as your analysis I have been thinking of the tower as a sort of phased array radar. The individual elements that you pointed out are also clearly visible in some of the historic Google Earth images. And I agree on the three "bumps" on the west side possibly being cable conduits. That means the radar's effective direction is north, east and south. Interestingly there are two new (added in 2022 or 23) radar systems at the Papoose Mountain radio site, pointed NE and SE. Together they cover the same area. They show in the latest GE imagery and I have them labelled in the latest version of our Area 51 building map in the Maps section. I believe those radars to be intrusion detection radars. So, did the triangular tower serve the same purpose and was replaced after it was discovered that it was ineffective against small low flying aircraft? I am really reaching here, I know... I believe the tower can rotate, within limits at least. This composite of two GE images shows it in different orientations. Notice how the south facing base of the 2022 image (and in all other GE images except 2006) is roughly in line with the center of the oval depression west of it. In the 11/2006 image that side lines up with a point south of that depression. Both images were taken from roughly the same satellite angle and with a similar sun angle, so that cannot account for the discrepancy. I believe the 2006 image shows the tower turned slightly counter-clockwise from its default position.
In Reply to: The Triangular Tower posted by Salty on September 07, 2023 at 13:52:08 PST:
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