This is a transmitting site for a research project involving the use of the ionosphere (the higher limit of the earth's atmosphere, around 60 miles up), as a communications medium for contacting deeply submerged submarines. The HAARP project is sponsored by the Navy's Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force's Phillips Lab. Energy from the high frequency radio transmitters at the site is beamed up to the ionosphere, altering the normal configuration of the electrical streams that naturally occur there (and which cause the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights phenomenon). These changes in the energy stream induce low frequency waves which can penetrate the ocean and the earth. If effective, this system could replace the controversial ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) system, currently in use to communicate with submarines. There are other defense applications associated with this technology, such as probing the earth for subterranean bunkers. A new spun liquid mercury telescope, recently set up near Fairbanks by UCLA, and dedicated to observing the ionosphere, is being used in research for this project. HAARP was said to have been initiated by an ARCO engineer, looking for uses for all the natural gas in the area that was otherwise going to waste.