Ron Pandolfi's DNI MASINT JASON HFGW Study

The Federation of American Scientists SECRECY BLOG posted a link to Dr. Ron Pandolfi's Office of the Director of National Intelligence MASINT sponsored JASON High Frequency Gravity Wave study.

You can download the report here.

The subject of High Frequency Gravitational Waves (HFGW) has attracted considerable interest in the US government over the last few years.

In September 2007, HFGW came to the attention of the National MASINT Committee of ODNI; in turn, staff at this committee asked JASON to review both the underlying science and technology of HFGW, and their implications for national security. JASON hosted briefings during June 17-18, 2008 from individuals both inside and outside the US government, and also collected about a thousand pages of printed or electronic material. This report gives our conclusions and supporting analyses, after having considered this input.

Classified topics and conclusions are presented in the accompanying classified appendix.

The conclusion?

Our main conclusions are that the proposed applications of the science of HFGWare fundamentally wrong and that there can be no security threat.

More generally we observe that independent scientific and technical vetting of such hypothetical threats is generally necessary.

In particular we conclude:

1. Previous analysis of the Li-Baker detector concept is incorrect by many
orders of magnitude

2. The following are infeasible in the foreseeable future:

(a) Detection of the natural “relic” HFGW, which are reliably predicted to exist
(b) Detection of artificial sources of HFGW

3. No foreign threat in HFGW is credible, including:

(a) Communication by means of HFGW
(b) Object detection or imaging (by HFGW radar or tomography)
(c) Vehicle propulsion by HFGW
(d) —or any other practical use of HFGW.

4. For the relatively weak fields in the lab, on the Earth, or indeed in
the solar system (far from the cutting-edge science of black holes of the
Big Bang), the general theory of relativity and its existing experimental
basis are complete, accurate and reliable.

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
Dr. Ronald Pandolfi

a. REPORT
Unclassified

b. ABSTRACT
Unclassified

c. THIS PAGE
Unclassified

UL

19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code) 703-907-0862

Now about that classified appendix?

Perhaps this paragraph provides a clue:

Beyond all of these specific problems, we address the suggestion that even though HFGW are not useful with our present understanding of general relativity, such experiments should be supported because if scientific understanding were wrong, and HFGW were easier to generate and to detect than is believed by the standard theory, there would be adverse national security consequences. One can always imagine something different, but it is clear that the work should be put in the hands of a team that understands both gravitational radiation and experimental physics.