I get the point, but have to shake my head. That's like saying it could have been someone else than George Washington. Such a person of faithfulness, loyalty, patriotism, courage, and integrity is hard to come by. We don't know of any other. When God gives us leaders that border being saviors, our role is to pray mightily, not second-guess who He sends.
Considering all the contentious discussion of the Maui fires, I read "high energy / highly symbolic optics" to involve DEWs! That can feed some fantasy fun for a few minutes.
You haven't been following what I have been saying. I have repeatedly pointed out that there are surface-to-air DEWs under field test from land and water, which is only what you are catching up with. They are not suitable to go after land targets from airplanes above, and that is what I said. (I have been following these surface weapon developments for years.) The only wilful ignorance is yours, in failing to pay attention. The interesting thing about them is that they are electric fiber-based lasers, with maybe 30% quantum efficiency. The question will be if they have solved the power and thermal cooling requirements for successive rapid shots.
The "irony of my patronizing posts" is that I have been correct. Land-based high-energy lasers have been around since the 1970s, shooting down tethered helicopters (I saw the footage)---but they were laboratory systems, not operational ones. That's a freebie. You want airborne lasers with muscle, go look up YAL-1A, for which I did initial preliminary design work (1970s), edited the winning proposal for the development contract (1990s), and conducted mission analysis for the system in development (2000s). Including shoot-down missions (possible, but a waste of resources; easier to get the job done with conventional means).
In any case, it is just a charade that people here are talking about "all possibilities." They are turning up their nose at the boring ones and spending time on the treasured ones---just as you are doing.
Then what would their oath mean? This oath has been in effect long before the military had significant intelligence capability. If they had no intelligence magic wands to wave, would they stand aside and see the Constitution destroyed? Were that to happen, the oath would be meaningless.
That's the way it works. If no one knows that something exists, then you have to proceed on the basis that it doesn't exist. You can't prove that something exists if you have no evidence for it. I happen to be aware of and involved with developments in the field, and the rest of you are not. I happen to have examined this precise mission for a real laser, and the rest of you have not.
And I have proven that the military is quite open about laser weapons and otherwise classified aircraft.
You don't know a thing about the "technology" of shooting lasers at the ground, so to opine about its complexity is a conceit. You don't even know that a "they" is involved, or that "this capability" was even present. Your own basis of argument is that it cannot be kept a secret---inasmuch as you seem dedicated to exposing it.
Possibilities must first be possible. I have pointed out repeatedly that there are no known DEW systems that would be suitable to such a purpose. And that the nature of DEW systems being optical would make it a difficult match for the problem. In addition to which there is no evidence for DEWs having been used, nor are people even considering what conceivable evidence could be found---but people are not even talking about evidence. They are content to talk up fairy tales. This does not seem like open-mindedness at all; it seems like a total fixation on a delusion. To the point of fixing on entirely unrelated issues as "evidence" of a fantasy (e.g., "blue roofs").
The premise that "possibilities" are being discussed is hollow. Is anyone discussing airplanes dropping napalm? No. Is anyone discussing the use of arbalests to launch fire arrows? No. Is anyone discussing the coordination of arsonists? Not so much; it is being pushed aside because it is not sexy enough. Is anyone discussing the falling of sparking power lines? No, because "it is the narrative" and must be ignored (even though it is the most credible answer).
There has been no quick dismissal, at least on my part. I am the only one here who has knowledge of the field and have been trying to educate the ignorant about the facts of the matter. You certainly can't accuse me of being naive.
I will repeat again, having an open mind does not mean having an empty mind.
Wouldn't it be simpler to ask "When haven't they lied about Trump?"
That's to prevent any adult alive today from being alive when it is released. Thus, to prevent any consequences from landing on any culprits while they are alive. Kind of like an inverse life sentence. "You are sentenced to stay alive for the next 66 years, health permitting." Insert nose-thumbing icon. This would suggest the culprits are all older than 30 years. Sounds like middle-to-late-career FBI agents and managers.
Too much cherry-picking. What about other beach umbrellas of different colors? What about the blue ones that burned to ash? Or would it be the material and not the color? How many blue cars were burnt up, but could no longer be identified as blue? I've already looked at Oprah Winfrey's house. Depending on the photo, her roof looks off-white, light grey, or light blue---completely consistent with a mostly reflective roof that reflects the shade of the prevailing sky. It makes a lot of sense to have a reflective roof in the tropics, if you can afford it. Besides, 99% of the island was unaffected by the fire, so the celebs and politicians weren't even in jeopardy.
I would say the actions of the responsible parties were consistent with a pre-determined plan, but contingency plans come by the dozens. They didn't have to know when anything was coming. All they had to do was know what to do if something came. Think more, knee-jerk less.
Jokes are good. Unfortunately, the line between a joke and a seriously-held idea is very slender in this forum. Shall we say...I see the light?
I thought a "fanny" was an ass, but maybe I'm getting too old...
It is generally not possible to prove a negative; you should know this, and not use that as an empty challenge. I can't prove that somebody didn't obtain arbalests from the 12th century and used them to fire self-consuming incendiary arrows. (Can you?) Why should the military have any DEW in secret programs when all the ones it has built are in open programs? What could be more impressive than the YAL-1A, conducted totally in the open?
You are correct about the U-2 and the F-117, but not about the SR-71 Blackbird. It's existence was announced 5 months before its first flight. Secrecy is relevant only when it is relevant. The B-21 Raider bomber is classified, but its existence is not secret (public rollout in 2022).
The point is: you can't "assume" the existence of something just because you can't prove its non-existence. That opens the door to fire-breathing dragons, fire-bombs carried by balloon (per Japan in World War II), or secret agents throwing bottles of napalm. Especially when the credible culprits are downed and sparking powerlines (evidence).
You don't make arguments for something on the basis that it may be possible. A lot of things may be possible. But the Space Force presence on Maui does not include DEWs, if you would bother to find out what it includes: https://afresearchlab.com/technology/air-force-maui-optical-and-supercomputing-amos-site/ Laser guidestars are the key ingredient in the performance of adaptive optics.
Well, you started out with unsubstantiated allegations that we currently have DEWs on airplanes (not) and they can be made "cheep and easy" (not). And that companies that make them are "owned and controlled by globohomo..." (proof?).
Then you posed a bunch of questions, suggesting you entertained the idea. Ending up with a speculation instead of evidence. How much of the blanks am I expected to fill in? A space-based weapon would be even less credible, I will admit, but not much less. And the fire could have been caused by bad weather and power lines in bad repair (as it apparently was).
But okay. Space weapons are over-the-top, I agree. DEWs are less credible than half a dozen other ideas (also without evidence). I don't think you can purchase surplus flamethrowers any more, but jars of home-made napalm are definitely credible (and nasty). But let's not get wrapped around the axle of an event that affected only 1% of the island.
Technically, no. They radiate in all directions (not directed). And they don't set things on fire by radiation anyway.
A nothingburger. If you search for images, you get a lot of them, and the color of the roof varies between off-white, grey, and light blue. I suspect the roof is reflective and takes the prevailing color of the sky. A reflective roof is the rational thing to do in the tropics, if you can afford it. I live in the Pacific Northwest, the land of clouds, and in the summer the sunlight heats up my house considerably, even though my roof is shingled with a light brown color. The roof is the least of the aesthetics of her house, which looks like a wedding layer cake, but no more terrible than any other conventional expensive house.
But any concern about Oprah is irrelevant. Her house is located an hour's drive from Lahaina, where the fires were. That fact that her property was not burned is part of the fact that the LARGE MAJORITY of property on the island was not burned. People have to realize that Maui covers 465,408 acres. The fires covered maybe 1% of this. Gee, what are the odds that wealthy people might be living in the other 99% of the island?
Anon behavior on this topic reflects more wishful thinking, fanciful speculation, and confirmation bias than careful research into the facts of the case.
When it is not feasible, it should be dropped. All this talk of DEWs is at the level of mythology. More than not feasible, it is not evidentiary. And more than not evidentiary, it is delusory. People are not arguing it out of a prompting from evidence; they are arguing it out of an urge for it to be true. It is all wishful thinking. Nobody likes their fondest desire to be squashed by cold reality.
There is no mystery. It has now been reported that the power lines were sparking. As someone who lives in wooded territory that gets dry in the summer, I can vouch for sparks being all that is necessary. Add a steady strong wind, and it is like a draft in a fireplace. The fire spreads because the flames are blown to the next victim.
As for the wealthy types, were their desires not always in place? We know that Hawaii had designated Maui for some kind of rebuild. The fire is just a convenient pretext to put plans in motion---but the plans were out in the open, and the citizens of Hawaii were good with them. Stupid, to be sure, but complacent and unresisting.
Maybe it does. Stay tuned. I think the Indians deserve a tip of the hat.
During the phase one study contract for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the team at Boeing was chatting up their competence and brilliance among themselves. I listened. Boeing hadn't flown a launch vehicle since the last Saturn V launch in the Skylab program, 25 years previously. I listened to this for a while, then interjected: "You know, little brown men speaking Hindi have much more operational experience launching rockets than we do." Oh, the dirty looks... But they couldn't say anything.
Whether I am an authority or not should make no difference. The important aspect is that THERE IS NO EVIDENCE. Surmise and imagination are not evidence. And this notion of DEWs is very tricky, because the nature of a DEW is not to leave much evidence. It is in the same category as Menehunes. You say DEWs exist, and they do. But so do elephants, and they didn't start the fires. You may say Menehunes don't exist---but how do you know? Revenge against the white man? Another theory is giant fire arrows from arbalests, straight out of the 12th century. Perfectly feasible. Evidence is self-consuming. You could drag out a particle accelerator and spray the trees with hot electrons. Where's the evidence? If you are not going to rule anything out, you are going to have to keep book on all these alternatives. Somebody dropping jars of phosphorus from light planes. Somebody driving around shooting off flamethrowers or tossing traffic flares. Need I continue?
Do you see what I am trying to explain? You have to base allegations about reality on evidence pertinent to the case. Right now, it comes down to stray downed power lines or/and a conspiracy of arsonists...but we have evidence for the former and only imagination for the latter. I am trying to coax anons away from unsupported but favorite delusions, because a delusory understanding of reality is a contradiction in terms.
Of course it is possible. Targeting lasers have been pod-mounted for years. The point is that they are clear-weather devices and suitable only for specific targets. What would you target to start a fire? Anything? A patch of ground has no contrast against...ground. Targeting and ranging lasers are low-power and have to share optics with other sensors. You can't run a hundred kilowatts through a sensor system.
The AC-130 with the cannon is aimed by eyeballs and flies slowly in a circle around the target.
And how long was the YAL-1A in service before we found out it was junked? You don't get any points for "what if?" arguments. What if fires were set by airplanes dropping flares? What if conspirators had automobile safety flares? What if fire-breathing dragons came down for a roast? These are all equally possible BASED ON THE AVAILABLE EVIDENCE (which is nil). The present status of DEWs has been a matter of record. The ability to fly one (again) in an airplane would be announced, as it is a matter of anticipation. The laser guys like to advertise progress. It helps to secure budget. They are not developing arsonist equipment.
The most plausible explanation is dropped power lines that were still energized...since they happened. Evidence. Why do you even bother with nonsense? You have to be self-aware, because delusions are a symptom of paranoid psychosis.
Grass and shrubs will do nicely to spread the fire. Organic dust will burn (horrible conflagrations at grain elevators). Neighboring houses are also good. Automobiles with fuel in them are usually at risk.
Yes, but he ignorantly thinks nuclear weapons are fiction, and they are not. Too much nuttiness.
Actually, all these things are true. The gifted composer Jerry Goldsmith had the misfortune to see his son, Joel, another gifted composer, pass away before the elder Goldsmith did. Irony? Pathos? You name it, but it happens. Sudden and unanticipated death has been around a lot longer than Covid-19 vaccine.
The ionosphere is not the troposphere. There is no thermal connection.
I was thinking more along the lines of the climax scene from "Atlantis, the Lost Continent" (1961), where the giant Atlantean energy crystal is on a high wall, roaming for and zapping individual human targets. Either high drama or high hysteria, take your pick (but watch the movie).