Santa: Air Force Early

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Traditional Las Posadas Monday, Dee. 24, 1984


n The procession stopped at seve-
ral houses, a few restaurants and
finally Casa Ramona Community
Conversation
Television
4
6
r inx
"

The Sun Center. See Living, Page B-- 3.


Editorials 8 LLU
San Bernardino, California

Ed
Mauel
Air Force readies early Santa detection system
By JOHN WHITEHAIR of the NORAD complex deep inside the Cheyenne
Sun Staff Writer Mountains near Colorado Springs, Colo.
RIVERSIDE Air Force personnel at a fortified When an object isn't identified easily, command-
early-warnin- g
center near here will
radar-trackin- g ers there order heavily armed fighter interceptors
no doubt be extra alert tonight as they participate in like those always on alert at George AFB near Victor-vill- e,

a real Christmas Eve tradition tracking Santa to find the object.


Claus. It's then the fighter pilots' job either to verify
It all began 29 years ago when a tele- top-secr- et
that the object is no threat to the nation's security or
phone number the one used by an Air Force colo- blow it out of the skies with a g missile.
heat-seekin-

nel charged with the responsibility for possibly or- It's certain that Santa would be viewed as a'
dering unidentified flying objects blasted out of the "friendly" and not as the target for a missile.
sky accidentally was published in a newspaper. The 26th Air Division NORAD Region at March'
Observations Since then, the North American Aerospace
fense Command (NORAD) crews on duty on
De- AFB would get involved if the object appeared on its'
scopes, which are connected to a series of radar an-- '
Christmas Eve have provided radio stations with
from sidelines voice reports, a realistic
ta's route across their
scenario of San-
radar screens.
play-by-pla- y

green-glowin- g
tennas in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
On Christmas Eve, volunteers at the tracking'
screens in Colorado and March AFB give realistic'
of Inland life U.S.
Over the years as the cold war has heated up, the
alert forces that watch for enemy
early-warnin- g
commentary about the surveillance process.
It's an outgrowth of the s program
public-relation-

The Creative Experiences for bombers, fighters, missiles, UFO's and sleighs started in 1955 when now-retire- Col. Harry Shoup,
d

Children class at San Bernardino have greatly expanded. director of the center that was tracking UFOs at the.
ValleV College's Child Devel-opmenwCent- The quantum leaps made in technology mean time, answered the "hot line" that connected him
threw a potluck that tonight the first indication that an unknown directly to the president.
object a Santa, for example, who might have for-
lunch omyday last week. gotten to file an international flight plan is air-
It was a young boy on the telephone. '.

It was an impressively deli- borne and headed toward the U.S. would be detected The youngster, and many others, began calling
cious collection of home-cooke- d because a number listed for youngsters to use to call
goodies. Joan Marie Patsky, a stu- by early-warnin-
satellites in orbit more than 3,000
g

miles above the earth. Santa Claus in a department store's newspaper ad


dent who had a couple of her The spy satellites have sensors to pick up the heat accidentally was transposed. The phone number list-
paintings on display for Mayor ed in the ad was the top-secr-
number for the hot
Bob Holcomb's visit, wangled an
from an intercontinental ballistic missile or the
glow from a Rudolph's red nose guiding eight tiny line.
invitation forme, too. reindeer through the North American skies. Shoup arranged for members of his crew to talk
Much as I love food, the cen- Next, the ballistic missile system at early-warnin- g to the children so they wouldn't be disappointed in
ter's program was even more im- Thule Air Base on Greenland, just 800 miles from the their efforts to reach Santa. Later, the program ex-
pressive. Coordinator Barbara North Pole, comes on line. panded into the current annual project.
Harkness provided tour and ex-
Almost at the same time, a blip would appear on Tuning in to the Air Force's tracking of the Jolly
planations. the scopes at the radar sites along the Distant Early Elf on his supersonic, annual global flight could even
Parents of the center's kids are Warning Line in Greenland, Canada and Alaska. be more exciting than talking to a department-stor- e

students and must work three Staff drawinf by Jmi Mojtam Multimillion-dolla- r computers would funnel the Santa.
hours in the center each week. information simultaneously to the Missile Warning But don't expect any NORAD volunteers to tell
Lab students work nine hours Tracking a USF (Unidentified Flying Sleigh) Center, Space Surveillance Center and the Air De- you where the Santa Claus base is. That really Is top
a week and teachers have from fense Operations Center all at the Command Post secret.
four to seven of them assigned to
each of their classrooms. The stu-
dents are from the various child CZZ7mmJ :r ; w

development classes taught by


Barbara or Esther Gordon-Nou-ro-
Some tips
The result is a three-pa- rt pro-
gram that i

Serves the kids by preparing


them to learn when they enter
for the
kindergarten.
Serves the parents by help-
I A. W l.t'W .... fZ.'WJS." ' I tt--

J':.: ',
i i ? :

day after
ing them to understand their chil-
By BARBARA ANDERSON
dren's needs and to acquire the r MI.. - ir-fU- . ' ss M,
m': S8 t r .v i t i y,
Sun Staff Writer
skills to meet them. -- The
1 . SAN BERNARDINO
Serves the students by giving WW sweater Uncle Harry bought
them.. practical experience under.; 1 ff . "V
you would comfortably fit an
close supervision. ' "1
Taere's a lot of neat things
going on. In one of the classrooms
w
' ,S
r . tfX 20 years ago.
the age y ou were

there, is a small, two-stor-


y play- Maybe buying Christmas
house hat Barbara designed. The cards and wrapping paper at

A
1

botton floor is a kitchen. :


is your kind of deal.
half-pric-
e

The possibilities for the kids to


If you plan to exchange the
learn while they exercise their
k
na'aral instincts to climb made
me want to be a kid again. - f li n-hunting
gift or go bargai-
the day after
Christmas, retailers warn
Wonder if Mom en-
you'd better bring a lot of pa-
rolled at Valley and . . . )
l V ' tience to the stores with you.
Minutiae The day after Christmas is
The rain was pouring pails "probably the biggest day of
Tuesday morning as I was cross- the year" for retail stores, said
ing Fourth Street to the office af- Jim Sivella, manager of the JC
'
ter an assignment. One glance to V- -
Penney store in Central City
the west to check for traffic turn- 5
- Mall.
ing off D Street caused me to en- "In numbers of people, it's
ter a state of utter panic (NOT a . the day after Christmas that is
y fti.i V
-
state in southern India).
,..,.Jt
'itiiii""
ixt the busiest, with people out to
Going north on D as the signal Staff )ho. make that exchange or spend
light turned green was a snow that money they got for
plow.
What did the snow plow guy
Riding on the right Christmas, ' Si- -

know that I, standing there in a Jim Mullen of Sugarloaf, a trapper, rides his horse, Thunder, against the traffic along Big Bear Boulevard in Big (Please see Tips, )
rainstorm that wasn't scheduled
to arrive until two days later, Bear area. Mullen makes his living capturing critters such as coyote, skunk, raccoon and rabbits for their pelts.
didn't?
Snow on D Street is not a nice
surprise.
The whole monsoon situation
Passersby to demonstrators: 'Merry Christmas
last wefk led to reaffirmation of By CINDY YLNGST The Smiths, who live in Colton, have four grand-

o
there being two classes of people Sun Staff Writer children and two They had two;
in Southern California never to be NORTON AIR FORCE BASE The 40 people that sons, but both are dead. One died while serving in;
believed: anyone who says "I love met Sunday evening for a candlelight prayer vigil at Korea, the other was killed by a pit bull.
you" five minutes after you've the gates of this military base do not take their con- "I'm interested in the future of the world," said:
been, introduced, and weather victions lightly. Emmett Newby spent more than 14 Sarah. "I want my grandkids to live a normal life." ;
V
forecasters. months in prison for his beliefs. "I get very discouraged," said Henry. "(The mili- -

Newby, 68, refused to fight during World War II. taryt is sneaking so much over on us." '
Both kinds work with inade-
quate data. Government officials would not release him from his As several children played on the grass behind
military obligations as a conscientious objector be- their parents, the group sang folk songs, prayed and'
cause they felt his motives were politically moti- chatted.
(nyone who thinks I've just
'.

vated. Nancy Towell of San Bernardino stood on the;


called you an inadequate date, go "Which I was," the Muscoy resident freely ad-
back and read again. i
sidewalk near the street, holding her candle and:
i t mitted. "I've never been able to accept war as a way watching the cars driving onto the base.
to end disputes. One war just lays the foundation for "We celebrate the birthday of the prince of
The unsigned postcard seemed another."
to be trying to make a point. I peace. (The vigil) seemed like the right thing to do.",
Newby held up a large banner that read: "Bread she said. "It's not so much a matter of being against;
don't really like anonymous mail, not Bombs." And while a few passersby sneered or something. It's orsomething. It's for peace."
but because it signed off with a yelled at the group, there were many cars that Joseph Dennis, a retired Riverside physician, also!
Christmas theme, I'm making passed with smiles on the occupants' faces. A few was watching the cars as he held up a banner. ;
room for the writer's comment on yelled "Merry Christmas" to the demonstrators. "People have been very kind this year," he said.
the occasional columns with the The vigil was organized by several groups, includ- "In the past we have gotten some flak name call-"- ,
best of personalized license plates ing the Inland Empire Freeze Network, the San Ber- ing, denigration. But tonight I have seen people;
or bumper stickers observed or re- 4 nardino Alliance for Survival and the Inland Inter-fait-
Sanctuary.
h
going by and smiling."
ported by who knows whom. Dennis said he is active in the peace movement,
However, let it be confessed up It was the third annual Sunday-before-Christm-

gathering at the Tippecanoe Avenue entrance to the because he feels "convicted'' by the Holy Spirit and;
front, right here and now, that the must follow his conscience.
most recent two in that category base.
'This base was involved with the military inter- "We need to evaneelize the world with peace, not
were a lot closer together than oc- with war," he said. "If we're going to get along with
vention in Grenada and it will be involved in an
casional. The card, please: the world, we have to be agreeable while we dis-
"It's a weary road! airlift capacity in other military (invasions)." said
Chris Brown, coordinator of the Freeze Network. agree. '.

"We're tired reading bumpers The Ballistic Missile Office across the street "is "We must be aware of God's purpose and act
(stickers) and licenses (plates involved with the MX and Minuteman missiles upon it We need to preserve our children s fu-
"Bah humbug!" Staff phot by Larry lata That's why we chose this site," he said. ture and their rights or they won't have any." '.

OK. Have a Joyous holiday any- "The bombs they're planning them rieht here." Dennis said he was disappointed because no mem-- ;
way and. because you did care Lily Freidel. 4, and her mother, Betsy, of San Ber- said Sarah Smith, 79, pointing to the building. ' Peo- bers of the clergy were present at the religious dem-
enough to write, may Santa bring nardino take part in candlelight prayer vigil for ple say we can't do anything about it. I guess this is a onstration. '.

you a plate reading either study in futility." "They're silent on this matter, most of them," he;
SCROOGE or BHUMBUG. You're peace outside the gate of Norton Air Force Base. Smith has been active in the peace movement said. "F'it they should they need to be here ...I
on your own for bumper stickers, About 40 people participated in third annual with her husband. Henry, 81, since 1935. In their 56 All our children will die in a nuclear holocaust and I.
but you might kick in a pint and years of marriaee, there has only been one time believe with all my heart that it will be in just a
pet a free one from the Blood
gathering sponsored by sev- when they didn't attend a peace demonstration
Bank. eral Inland Empire groups. iPlease see Demonstrators. B 2

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