yadda yadda yadda .... blah  blah ..... edited  for sanity .........   
      
      
   desert back in the 50's and 60's.   the military even towed   
   >them on ropes ... trailing behind aircraft to simulate them "   
   >shadowing " an aircraft .... the early ones were ( like the betz   
   >device ) made of a special type of  spun aluminum   
      
      
   YEP........ you are correct my friend ..... my mistake ...... your   
   memory does serve you  " quite"  right !   
      
   I believed  that most of the  early " radar calibration  " spheres   
   were made of " spun " aluminum ....... but I'm told not all of them.   
   some ( maybe most ) were ( as you noted )  stainless steel.   I do   
   have a copy of  the notes from the DPNL   ( department of the navy lab   
   ) report  ( that was made public , a more detailed report ,  of   
   classified nature,  is rumored to exist  )     and here is a partial   
   excerpt   ( the whole thing  if you give me a  working  email addy   
     ) :   
      
   metallurgical  and physical testing revealed the object to be made of   
   a  " tempered " stainless steel alloy similar but NOT exact in nature   
   to industrial type #431 .   similar to but not a commercial   
   composition known in industry  ( a custom , not commercially available   
   , stainless steel composition  in other words ). it is hollow and   
   shows a tempered strength of 205,000 lbs. / sq in. . wall thickness   
   varies from .429 to .450 inches  ( rather thicker and heavier than one   
   would initially think for something flying through the air like that   
   ) .. outside diameter is 7.95 inches , weighs 21.34 pounds and has a   
   circumference of 24.99 inches.  it has apparent microscopic seams and   
   openings and  the manufacturing process resembles ( but not exactly )   
   an industrial one known as spin casting  ( spin casting of stainless   
   ...... wow  ) . it is precision tooled with superb balance and x-ray   
   examination shows four obvious objects inside. the surface is polished   
   and shiny with  random microscopic scratch marks spread evenly through   
   out the entire surface.   
      
   there's more in this report ( like  stuff about what was seen in the   
   x-ray examination and the surprises they had when they printed the   
   x-ray negatives to a positive film print  as well  )  and  I have   
   several additional notes .... one  being about  Dr. Carl  Williston of   
   the Omega Minus One  group  ( Lousiana , 1974  , containing  the   
   interesting tri pole magnetic stuff etc.  ) ....   
      
      
    sorry about the fubar .....  my bad ......  HEY ... that was a long   
   time ago ..... h aha haha ha ha   
      
      
   all of my material is from the " public record " and  all was freely   
   available on the web at one time ..... tho  it seems to have vanished   
   nowadays.  (  big surprise huh ?  )  everything I have quoted has   
   appeared on the web, in newspaper reports and in magazine articles   
   from the mid 70's !   
      
      
      
   .......with modern   
   >ones being inflatable aluminized mylar " like "  in nature.  still   
   >ranging in size from 6" to 3' or so . the inflatable ones can be   
   >inflated to " float " in the air when dropped from an aircraft  ( like   
   >balloons ) and aircraft can fly  in among them to make the needed   
   >radar calibration tests .........   
   >   
   >that .. and the fact that NO betz or related  references are now   
   >available on the web should tell you something  ...   
   >ha hahahah aah ah  hah   ( it's all you need to know , isn't it ? )   
   >   
   >thanks guys .. hope that gets you started .  I'm  holding you to your   
   >offer .....  I'll be looking forward to it !     
   >   
   >   
   >k   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)