Immersed in the World
Did you know the United States has the ability to locate, discriminate, track, and assess something as small as a baseball (or tiny missile) from 3,000 miles away?
This technology exists in the movies, but I didn’t know if it really did and what it would look like. Now I do. A big white ball.
Last week, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Sea-Based X-Band Radar traveled through Seattle’s Elliot Bay to Harbor Island where it’ll spend three months receiving maintenance and upgrades from Boeing who won the $27 million contract.
Usually it’s stationed off the coast of Adak, Alaska, one of the Aleutian Islands, a prime spot for monitoring our neighbors across the Pacific, North Korea, China and Russia.
We went to Harbor Island on Sunday to check it out.
A security officer raced up in his truck before we were even all out of the car. I figured we weren’t allowed so near, that we’d be sent away. It was the opposite actually. He was pleased we’d brought kids to see it.
The 85 foot tall white ball contains the radar system, which sits atop a floating oil drilling platform. The security officer pointed out the orange life boats, which, in an emergency, would lower workers twenty eight stories down to the sea. Yikes. Especially scary if the seas were rough.
Here’s the radar ball from West Seattle, along with a bit of shore art.
Check it out if you’re in Seattle the next couple of months to satisfy the James Bond in you. Just stay at least 100 yards away, by land or water because, you’re being watched very closely.
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Ha, that’s funny! Not very inconspicuous indeed
And the James Bond in me is quite satisfied… although I am curious about the “shore art” – looks like a very interesting collection 
thanks for sharing!
Hi Tuula, there was even more shore art: a dying bouquet of tulips, lots of seaweed, flotsam and jetsam, all arranged purposely.
I never knew such a thing existed, let alone traveled around, haha! That’s cool you guys got to go check it out. Thanks for sharing!
The security guy told us it’s been to Hawaii too.
I was wondering what the heck that thing was. We were driving across the West Seattle Bridge just yesterday, and my wife said, “What is that ball thing”? We we wondering if we just didn’t notice it before.
Don Faust recently posted..Tips for Middle East Visits
I know! Suddenly, it was there. And it’s hard not to miss.
Wow, scary stuff! Reminds me of that scene at the end of Syriana…
Andrea recently posted..Guest Post- A Holiday Planner’s Dream
I don’t remember all the details of Syriana, but see, just like the movies!
Thanks for the post – I’ve been wondering what that thing was.
I took a couple shots of it this weekend.
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Hi David, thanks for your comment! You got some great shots.
I love the shore art! And I read your post with 007 music in my mind…
Corinne @ Gourmantic recently posted..Le Grand Véfour- Anniversary Dinner in Paris
I liked the shore art too, Corinne.
Creepy stuff. Yet beautiful, too. It is quite terrifying how much information is out there. And how little, honestly, control there is over who is monitoring what.
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Creepy, yet beautiful. Good summary!
Neat! Just saw that big white ball – viewing from my uncle’s condo in West Seattle.
Cool, Shawn! I bet you have a great view from there.
I worked on Navy ships at Todd before it became Vigor, and at Boeing on experimental engine jobs. Went to see the big ball too and it scares me. Maybe it is part of the H.A.A.R.P. array using Tesla technology to control weather, earthquakes, and even thinking! Some very ominous things are being pushed right in front of our noses. I do not like or trust it. We should beware.
It is rather beautiful!! Wish it could be used for weather forcasting instead,in a peaceful stable world…
Thanks for writing about this ball! It was the first thing I found on Google. I linked to you from my blog.
Andrea James recently posted..What’s that big white ball in the Port of Seattle
We had seen it a couple times too and wonder what the heck it was. (Thought maybe it had something to do with the cruise ships?) Googled “big white ball on Seattle water front”, and it came right up..interesting!!
Looks like its on its way out of the harbor this evening!!
@john, wow! Tesla and mind control! Let me take you out for a drink. I drink, you talk.
That is not a baseball, my friend!
A few months ago, my daughter and I were out and about in North Seattle and she asked me what the big white ball was. I answered, “A radar thingy.” Thanks for posting this and making my wild guess look authoritative.