The conversation turns alarming as Kagan describes EPA findings that aircraft passing through the beam at altitude would have passengers flash-roasted alive, and that ground-level intensity of 23 kilowatts per square meter could bring an acre of water to a boil. He reveals that ionospheric heating would devastate AM radio and shortwave communications within a 3,000-square-mile radius, while tropospheric effects could alter weather patterns. The satellite would also be visible during daylight, 12 times brighter than Venus, and cast shadows at night equivalent to a quarter moon.
Kagan discloses that classified space shuttle tests of smaller microwave transmitters have been conducted since 1984 under the codename SPARTAN, and that the Defense Department views the technology as a weapon system capable of neutralizing missiles.
Key Moments
The proposed satellite: 3 mi × 6 mi, 5 GW geosynchronous structure: Kagan lays out the NASA/DoE Solar Power Satellite proposal: a 3-mile-wide by 6-mile-long geostationary collector outputting 5,000 megawatts - equivalent to five nuclear power plants - beamed to Earth as microwave energy.
EPA: aircraft passing through the beam would be flash-roasted: Kagan cites an EPA study he holds in front of him stating that an aircraft transiting the 60 kW/m² microwave beam at 30,000–40,000 feet would have its passengers 'flash-roasted alive, like a dinner popped in your microwave.' Ground-level intensity at the rectenna focal point hits 23 kW/m² - enough to bring an acre-foot of water to a boil.
Kagan: Operational satellite would knock terrestrial AM/FM off the air: Kagan says EPA studies show terrestrial radio and television within a 3,000-square-mile radius of the rectenna would be impacted, with stations forced onto FCC time-share schedules - meaning most of every 24-hour period 'no broadcast will be possible.' Art reacts viscerally: 'AM radio down the tubes.'
Crop circles as orbital microwave test signature: Art notes that crop-circle wheat shows molecular changes only reproducible by microwaving. Kagan confirms Sunstroke opens with a microwave-devastated crop field and says he 'firmly' believes ongoing U.S./Japan/Russia/France orbital tests of solar-power-satellite concepts may be responsible for the recent decade of crop circles.
Spartan: classified space-to-ground microwave tests since 1984: Kagan claims the U.S. has been running classified space-to-ground microwave tests aboard the Space Shuttle for 11 years using a 2,800-pound test satellite codenamed Spartan, with limited transmissions in April 1993, January 1994, and May 1995, plus plans to build a 10 MW satellite alongside the Space Station after 2002.