Message posted by Theran Davis on June 18, 2011 at 16:30:59 PST:
The authors of "Project Azorian" devote an entire chapter to debunking a variety of theories. I actually read "Red Star Rogue" many years ago. The most likely cause for the sinking of the Soviet sub, which is backed up by multiple sonar recordings, is that the automated firing system for the ICBMs malfuctioned, causing one of the three missile rocket motors to ignite and burn while inside the missile tube, sequentially followed by a second. The two rockets burned through the underside of the hull, causing the sub to sink before the third rocket could ignite. The most compelling bit of evidence for me that this was not an actual launch attempt is the fact that this happened almost exactly at local midnight, when the Soviet sub was scheduled to surface and make a routine radio transmission. Both the radio transmitter system and the automatic firing system are located in the same area of the sub, and both were known to have electrical problems. The fact that the missile tube hatches didn't open may have been the only thing that PREVENTED an accidental launch of all three missiles. There are multiple first-hand reports that the while the forward portion of the sub (forward of where the missiles burned through the hull) was in fact lifted from the ocean floor, due to several mechanical faults most of that (including the remaining intact missile, and most of the crypto gear and info) fell out of the retrieval "claw" and fell back to the ocean floor, leaving only the forward-most 39 feet of the sub able to be brought back aboard the Glomar Explorer. Additionally, the book presents evidence indicating the CIA was preparing for a second attempt to retrieve the portion of the sub that fell, but before that could happen the story broke in the press, and killed any possibility of a second covert operation. Other theories are discussed and subsequently debunked, such as a US submarine collided with the Soviet submarine, causing it to sink; the US sub Scorpion, which sank in the Atlantic 9 days after the Soviet sub, was actually torpedoed by the Soviets in retaliation for the alleged collision; and the theory that Project Azorian as a whole was actually a cover story for a much larger, as yet unknown, covert operation to raise something else entirely from the ocean floor. I think this book carries a lot of weight and credability, due in no part to the reputation of Norman Polmar. I don't think he would put his name on a book without being very sure of the facts. The book does mention the HMB-1 being subsequently used for the construction and testing of the Sea Shadow stealth ship.
In Reply to: Re: Area 51 mentioned in posted by psiuh88 on June 18, 2011 at 12:36:36 PST:
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