1948, The Army Builds a VLA

2nd Edition

In 1948, a construction team arrived by rail with heavy equipment on Army railcars. They moved into the large grassy flats that makes up the valley and started construction of something. Soon, trains started arriving with equipment and large panels. The men were very busy working 24 hours a day.

Slowly large satellite antennas took shape. There were six in all spread out in a star like pattern. This pattern is called a Very Large Array where many smaller satellite antennas join together to act as one large antenna.

It’s a mystery why this VLA was built and what was its purpose.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following image was discovered in an old Cicely archive.