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Show The Salt Lake Tribune, Thursday, December 5,1988 White Sands Mystery By Bill Stockton Associated Press Writer WHITE SANDS MISSILE •RANGE, N.M. - A shroud of secrecy continues to surround Firefly, a military aerospace project apparently mentioned by mistake last January in a news release that outlined 1968 activities at White Sands Missile Range. Four sentences in the release said: • "Firefly will test a special purpose vehicle. Initial flights will originate over the White Sands Missile Range with later flights originating from above the Pacific Ocean and. terminating over the White Sands range. < Flight Patterns ''"The early flights will follow patterns from White Sands to the vicinity of Green River, Utah, and back to the range. White Sands will monitor .all flights and provide range .support," it said. Newsmen asking for more information were told no more was available and were referred to Air Force offi-cjals. -; Air Force officials said only that' details of the project were classified and no information beyond that in the news release was available. The nature of the ''special purpose vehicle" is of concern; to residents of California, Arizona and New Mexico, since it would have to fly over populated areas in the tests described in the news release. The Air Force is apparently departing from past policy in clamping the secrecy lid on Firefly. Military officials went to great lengths to work with; .public officials and inform residents of Utah and New Mexico about the Athena program that began in 1963 in which missiles are fired from Green River, Utah, to White Sands. Possible Duty Firefly was first thought to be a guided missile, but speculation has shifted to the possibility it is an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to pho-. tograph enemy territory and return for a parachute recov-. ery. Air Force officials in Washington have confirmed a CH3 helicopter equipped for parachute recovery is stationed at Holloman Air Force Base near White Sands to recover drone test vehicles. Ryan Aeronautical, which holds a $3 million contract at White Sands for flights of tar- i get drones, has traditionally used the word "fire" in nam-", ing its vehicles, such as Fire-J bee and Firebee II. ! |