Monmouth Message
October 7, 1949

Page 1

Post Presents Exhibit
To Franklin Institute
      One of the true explanations behind the "flying saucer"stories of recent years went on display at Franklin Institute last week with the presentation to the Institute of a large action exhibit of recent developments in checking high altitude weather. The display, featuring radiosonde and rawinsonde,was formally presented to the Institute by Lt.Col .A .H.Cassevant,director of the Evans Signal Laboratory.
    Accompanying Col.Cassevant in the official Signal Corps party were Lt.Col .W.E.Lotz,Jr ., acting chief,metorology branch, Evans Laboratory; J.A.Siderman, project engineer at Evans; and Victor E.Suski, staff engineer to Col.Lotz. The exhibit was accepted by A .C.Carlton, executive director of the museum of the Institute .
      Radiosonde, Carlton said, is one of the most amazingly compact instruments ever developed. Weighing only four pounds, it contains devices for measuring
atmospheric pressure,temperature, and relative humidity, plus a power supply and a complete broadcasting station for relaying such data to receiving stations on
the ground by coded radio signals. The radiosonde is carried into the upper atmosphere by a ballon filled with helium or hydrogen. At take-off,the balloon is six
feet in diameter. By the time the radiosonde has reached maximum height, up to 100,000 feet, the balloon has expanded to as much as 35 feet. Many of the flying saucer stories are known to have started when persons not "in-the-know" have seen the glint of sunlight reflected from radiosonde ballons high above the
earth.
      After reaching maximum height, the balloon collapses and the radiosonde drifts back to earth by parachute.
      Rawinsonde, also shown and demonstrated in the new exhibit, is a system developed by the Signal Corps for adding wind speed and direction data to the three basic weather factors reported by the radiosonde in standard operation .
     The new exhibit was especially built for display at the Institute by the Evans Signal Laboratory. It will remain permanently at the Institute as an official project of
the United States Signal Corps.

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Monmouth Message October 7, 1949

Monmouth Message
October 7, 1949