The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-12-18
ArmyShoots Rocket m Miles in Air
 lnteFplonetory
 TFovoI Conditions
 Sought in 'SIues'

studied the results today of hurllng metal BluEs from c rocket travelling 3047,72 miles m hour, Ill miles above the ground--hoplng some of thotn may have been thrown outside the earth's gravity and open the secrets of travel between the plan- cts.
 The captured oerman rocket was launched from the U. 8. Armys White Sands Proving Ground at i0:l3 ?. M. last night, Five minutes and five seconds later it reached Q speed of b,3b0 feet a second and an altitude Of ii miles, higher than any Of the previous i6 rockets fired by the U. 6. Army.
 4 press conference was scheduled for today to explain the first find- ings from last nights experiment.
 Cautious Of Predictions
 The scientists were cautious in their predictions, but their hopes were disclosed by pr. Fritz zwlcky, 48, Belgian born member of the California Institute of Technology.
 We first throw lAtle something into the skles," zwicky said. Then Q little more, then shipload of inc struments-then ourselves"
 Last nights rocket-launched slugs were the little something" Zwicky said.
 The metal slugs, "man-made me- teorites," were hurled from the rocket at 10 second intervals after 1t reached 10000 feet. Telescopes were trained on the skies above the proving grounds all the way from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast. Their reports were awaited today.
 Three Aspects Studied
 The scientists said the slugs could have been hurled with three re- suits:
 1. Remaining within the
 earth's atmosphere where they
 would burn like falling meteors.
 2. Reaching the area where
 the pull of gravity is slight,
 and travel around the world in
 an orbit like the moon. Some
 said the pellets could circle the earth in co to 90 minutes.
 3. Be hurled outside the
 earths field of gravity where
 they would become free bodies,
 travelling with the momentum
 left from the terrific force with
 which they left the rocket.
 The scientists said the principal purpose of the experiment. was to photograph the trails of the ar- tificial ineteorites with a series of last telescopes, but were cautious in anticipating what the photo- graphs would show.
 Scientists Watch Flight
 Although, as an auxiliary result of the experiment, man-iaunched particles may escape from the earth for the first time, no special effort has been made to achieve this re- suit since systematic attempts in this direction are planned for a la CT date" zwicky said.
 However, 1t may happen that enough data on the initial velocities and the direction of election of some of the particles will be ob. tained to allow us to draw the con- clusiorlS that they are on their way into interplanetary spaces"
 The night was cool and clear when the 28,462 pound rocket zoom- ed upward.
 On the ground were scientists from the Army, Navy, California Tech. Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities. Other scientists watched through telescopes at Mcdonald Observatory. Mt. Locke, Tex; Lowell, FlagStaff, Ariz.; Uni- versailles of New Mexico and Ari- zona at Albuquerque and Tucson; Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Cal, and the University of Denver, Colo.
 Residents Watch Streak
 The first report came from Santa Fe.. N. M, 200 miles away, where residents saw the reddish trail of burning fuel streak the sky for 20 seconds.
 The war head of the rocket was set to discharge the slugs two at time at iO-second intervals when the rocket reached the height of it's trajectory.
 Residents at BiSDee, Ariz., 265 miles away, reported sighting three sets of the meteorites. spaced at about .IO-second intervals, glowing in the sky, indicating that they were well within the earth's at- mosphere.
 Lt.-Col. Harold R. Turner, com- manding ofiicer at White Sands, said the warhead blew of seven minutes and 20 seconds after the launching-two minutes and IS seconds after the rocket was re- ported at Ill miles.
 Hazy conditions over several cities reduced observation. The scores of persons in the hills around Santa Fe said the haze prevented them from seeing the meteorikes.
 Haze blanketed astronomers at the University of Denver.