tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793232252361445864.post5282034786476858960..comments2023-04-12T06:32:30.346-04:00Comments on RamblingBeachCat.com: Smart People Saying Crazy Things: Admiral Richard E. ByrdNick Nafpliotishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07367813121356223123noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793232252361445864.post-18804471094068119402011-09-09T21:58:33.950-04:002011-09-09T21:58:33.950-04:00To be fair, the north pole was a good call. Canada...To be fair, the north pole was a good call. Canada and the U.S. were building and operating the first radar stations to detect Soviet bombers attacking via the arctic as early as 1946 (the so-called Pinetree Line), which was quickly made obsolete by Soviet advances in jet propulsion. This necessitated the construction of the Mid-Canada line in the early 50s, followed by the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line (built mainly north of the arctic circle) in the mid-50s. All of these were eventually subsumed and operated by NORAD.<br /><br />The reason for all this being, especially in the late 40s through early to mid 50s, the best possible means of attacking North America on a wide scale with nuclear weapons was by bomber aircraft flying over the pole. With enough of them, the inevitable losses as a result of mechanical failure would not have significantly impacted the damage done.<br /><br />Things inevitably changed with Sputnik (aside from being the first human satellite in orbit, it was definitely the Soviets going "oh look, we don't really need all those bombers anymore, huh?"), but for a time, the spectre of Soviet bombers winging their way south from the polar regions was a very real concern in the mind of military planners.Keegannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793232252361445864.post-56868370475058989452011-08-26T21:10:55.770-04:002011-08-26T21:10:55.770-04:00I believe the Nazi's had crazy experiments, la...I believe the Nazi's had crazy experiments, labs and bases in places we don't know, but i dont think Antartica or the Arctic pole is one of those places. The territory is just too hostile.GMSoccerPickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07511342636823836652noreply@blogger.com