Controversial HAARP facility in Gakona, Alaska shuts down - July 19, 2013

The HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) facility in Gakona, Alaska has shut down pending its transfer to a different contractor working for DARPA.

HAARP was shut down in early May 2013, awaiting a change between contractors who operate the facility. According to HAARP program manager James Keeney, "Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is expected on site as a client to finish up some research in fall 2013 and winter 2014." The temporary shutdown was described as being due to "a contractor regime change." The Alaska Native corporation Ahtna, Incorporated is reportedly in talks to take over the facility administration contract from Marsh Creek, LLC.

The closure was first reported by the Amateur Radio Relay League on Monday. An article there quoted Dr. James Keeney, who now helps manage the HAARP project at Kirtland Air Force Base, as saying “Currently the site is abandoned. It comes down to money. We don’t have any.”

Supporters of the HAARP program now say that claims of crazy weather patterns, earthquakes and mental illness can no longer be blamed on the operation of this remote facility because it is "off-line". It is a fact that the HAARP facility in Gakona was only a public relations facade which distracted from the larger facility near Fairbanks and the many other "ionospheric heaters" located around the country -- and the world -- that no longer use dipole antennae farms and receive their funding as "black projects", exempt from public scrutiny or review.

The shutdown is reported to be only a temporary one. Air Force officials are hopeful that the facility would open and resume operations the coming months. DARPA currently has a sizeable funding bloc allocated for additional ionospheric research in the fall of 2013, so it will likely have to be open for that research. So the notion that it is completely closed down is not quite correct, though it is certainly not operational at the moment.

Many articles have been written about HAARP. But actually, in my opinion, HAARP was not the actual facility designed to be used as a military system but a "front" or "red herring" facility which allows the authorities to deny important questions about its purpose and operation and which conducted basic research with its limited power of about 3MW.

The real facility is located in Poker Flats, North of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Additional: Some background on Haarp and how it works
viewzone , alaskadispatch