Storm-Chasers Get Eye To Eye In The Sky With Wilma

Storm-chasers Richard Heene and Clint Perkins of the Science Detective Research Group flew directly into Hurricane Wilma with the Hurricane Hunters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 23, 2005 – Storm-chasers Richard Heene

and Clint Perkins of the Science Detective Research Group flew directly

into Hurricane Wilma as it bore down on the Florida coast after

battering resorts on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Heene and Perkins, armed with still and video cameras and a

geomagnetometer, were invited to join the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration’ Tampa, Fla.,-based Hurricane Hunters on two missions.

Along with the NOAA crew, the storm-chasers strapped into five-point

seatbelt harnesses and embarked upon a dramatic, lightning-ridden ride

into Hurricane Wilma to photograph and measure the earth’s magnetic field

around the storm.

“I have been in air turbulence before, but this scared the blank out of

me,” Heene said.

The NOAA team’s mission was to drop radiosondes to record the

hurricane’s vital statistics for the National Hurricane Center.

The Scientific Detective Research Groups is focusing on the magnetic

impact and implications of hurricanes. During the first mission, on

NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP jet aircraft, the Los Angeles-based Heene

researched his hypothesis that hurricanes may modify the earth’s magnetic field,

measuring and recording magnetic fields on the outer perimeter of

Hurricane Wilma.

On the second and more dangerous mission, the Fort Worth, Texas-based

Perkins joined the NOAA crew on board a WP-3D Orion turboprop on a

journey directly into Wilma’s eye. His measurements matched the release of

the aircraft’s radiosondes, allowing the researchers to combine the two

types of data.

“Next week, we’ll compile and analyze the data we collected during the

two missions to see whether Wilma provides new proof that rotating

storms modify the earth’s magnetic field,” Heene said. “If we find modified

magnetic fields, it could open doors to significant new research.”

Heene’s hypothesis is that rotating magnetic fields may also modify the

local gravity within storms as well. If this turns out to be the case,

it would contribute to storms’ ability to lift heavy objects and also

create domes of water we call storm surges.

Photographs and video footage of the raging Hurricane Wilma are

available from the Science Detective Research Group.. Richard Heene is

available for interviews at 310-820-1772.

More information the project can be found at www.tam.la and

www.mesopursuers.com.

Richard Heene is the CEO of The Science Detective Research Group, a

collective to look into the mysteries of science.