The book that is the subject of this review is Angels Don’t Play This HAARP, published in 2004 by Dr. Nick Begich and Jeane Manning. The topic of the book is an overview of the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Project (HAARP), a program of the United States Air Force and Navy being conducted in Alaska. The book examines the historical context of this project as well as the main problems the authors see with HAARP.
HAARP is an array of antennae that has the power to focus large amounts of electromagnetic radiation into the ionosphere. It is essentially a ground-based Star Wars system that has capabilities ranging from destroying incoming missiles to affecting regional and global weather patterns by sending energy into earth’s ionosphere. Further uses of the project include over the horizon radar and the disruption of global communication systems, including satellite communications.
Many of the concepts that made their way into HAARP can be found in patents originally filed by Bernard J. Eastlund. The authors trace the patents’ ownership through several defense contractors, as the companies who owned them, and thus were responsible for HAARP, changed hands from the small firm of APTI to military contractor E-Systems, until E-Systems was bought out in 1995 by Raytheon, one of the largest defense contractors at the time.
The authors spend much of their time focusing on various capabilities of the HAARP antenna array and relating these potential uses to the disturbing negative effects they may produce, along with the secrecy and material omissions that have accompanies HAARP since its inception. Just a few of the main issues that are examined include the main difference between HAARP and other ionospheric heaters that makes HAARP much more powerful, the weather-modifying effects of heating the ionosphere, and its potential for altering the mental processes of human beings.
The first of these, the aspects of HAARP that make it more powerful than so-called “conventional” heaters, is examined mostly in relation to the patents themselves. Using Eastlund’s concepts, the HAARP array is able to take large amounts of energy produced on the ground and focus it into a small area in the ionosphere. Heaters built previous to HAARP were only able to send energy that would diffuse in the upper atmosphere and would not have the energy-focusing capabilities of HAARP. The authors see this development as anything but a progression, as there is no realistic way to predict what this energy-focusing enhancement may produce. After previous failures of “great ideas” of man to manipulate the earth’s electromagnetic balance (such as the 1958 Project Argus in which three nuclear weapons were detonated in the Van Allen radiation belts, and the early 1960’s dumping of copper “telecommunications shield” needles into the ionosphere), there may be little reason to trust the government with another weapon of massive power and unknown effects.
The ability of the antenna array to modify weather is another capability that the authors examine in some detail. Especially due to the official environmental report’s omissions, there may be significant effects on the environment, weather, and wildlife that are not being addressed or discussed. Also due to the project’s lack of oversight, Begich and Manning hold little faith in the government’s willingness to confront these potential issues. They point out a number of the most glaring risks to the environment and life which are not discussed in the official Environmental Impact Statement. This is another example of the main problem of HAARP, which is its lack of effective oversight.
Most disturbingly of all of HAARP’s potential uses, however, is its ability to affect human brain functioning. Because the human brain works on specific frequencies which the HAARP project can also produce, it can theoretically affect thinking in nearly any area of the world at will. The small amount of energy required to manipulate the brain (much less than the power needed to run a light bulb) and the high energy capabilities of the array serve to present a clear danger to every human still possessing mental functioning. Another use of HAARP in relation to human feelings and thinking relates to the issue of resonance. Every chemical has a certain frequency, and by injecting small amounts of certain chemicals into humans and then using HAARP to simulate the chemical’s frequency, the feelings generated by the chemical can be enhanced many times over. The possibilities of these uses become nearly endless and this is another area of research the authors recommend for more open discussion.
The book is designed to be an introduction to the authors’ argument that the HAARP project suffers from a surprising lack of oversight and public discussion. The material is presented in a very readable manner and explains how the workings of the program and its potential uses and implications. In such a short book (around 200 pages), there are over 300 sources cited, which bring a level of credibility to the research, which is based on patent information, articles, and first-hand accounts and interviews by the authors. The book presents various other related tangents for the researcher to follow, as well as a much-needed call for more public discussion on issues such as electromagnetic weapons, human behavior modification, and weather manipulation. All of these issues are well worth open discussion, as the capabilities of HAARP may produce global results. An increase in the public education about these matters, and a greater measure of accountability and interdisciplinary study of the project are what the authors call for in the end, and these modest goals should be considered a minimum for any project with such awesome capabilities and potential uses.