Letxa.com

The Elko, NV site is included with Reno since the anomalies that appear at Elko are directly linked to the anomalies at Reno. The Elko NEXRAD site is located at 40.7397N, 116.8028W at an altitude of 6744'.

The Reno site is one of the most interesting that I have encountered. Unlike most of the sites where anomalies repeatedly occur at the same radials, Reno has very dynamic spoking. The spokes will appear in one image and 10 minutes later literally "move."

RadarMatrix has the following to say about Reno: "Reno NV, Wierd! Watch how parts move separately. Beams abound in NV". In addition, their Yahoo Group's message archive includes the comments of "Reno Nevada is beaming", "Reno Nevada has been beaming the last 2 nights".

I have named the anomalies at Reno the "Southern Anomaly" and the "Eastern Anomaly" due to the direction of the anomaly.

SOUTHERN ANOMALY

Reno exhibited an occasional spoke almost directly to the south (image to the right). Specifically, the anomaly appeared at radial 182 (just slightly west of due south). The anomaly did not occur often, appearing clearly in only 12 images (0.44%) and appearing to a lesser extent in an additional 10 images (0.37%).

A full catalog of all the anomalies is available here.

Given that the San Joaquin Valley NEXRAD site is located at 36.3142N and 119.6322W (compared to Reno's 119.4622W) the anomaly at 182 degrees corresponds precisely with the location of San Juaquin. In this Reno image, the San Juaquin site is just to the east of Hanford, CA. The anomaly is aimed directly at this location and is certainly the source.

EASTERN ANOMALY

Interesting anomalies were detected most weekdays during the afternoons to the east. These anomalies were much more striking than most in that the spokes would move "up and down" from image to image. They also were often quite beautiful, visually speaking. They appeared in 104 images (3.8%).

The activity appeared similar to a sunrise event (a single high-power spoke in a generally eastward direction) but due to the time of day it could not be the sun. Further, the spokes "moved" counterclockwise to the north, then back clockwise, etc.--not consistent with sun movement. Some days the activity was much more pronounced and produced an interesting and striking combination of beams of different colors, all to the east.

A full catalog of all the anomalies is available here.

I contacted the operator of the Reno NEXRAD site and asked him about the anomaly (providing him with a link to my archived images) and specifically mentioned that it did not appear to be the sun given the time of day. Within a few hours he responded:

From: Reno NEXRAD Operator (???@noaa.gov)
To: letxa2000
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 21:01:29 -0800
Subject: Re: Reno NEXRAD radar anomaly?

Spikes, wedges, strobes, starbursts and other anamolies can arise from other sources other than the sun, including aircraft, three-body scatterers such as large hail (this one actually says something about the severity of the storm), ground based - wireless - cable TV - and other transmissions, 88-D failures (usually temporary and associated with maintenance). Given the east direction of the spikes in your figures, the signals might be originating from transmissions from aircraft associated with flights out of the naval airbase in Fallon, although this is only speculation since I have no means to verify. I hope this explanation helps.

From: Reno NEXRAD Operator (???@noaa.gov)
To: letxa2000
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 03:04:01 -0800
Subject: Re: Reno NEXRAD radar anomaly?

You are correct. Just like a raindrop, if the plane was a return, it would be a blip. Of course our radar is a bit different than the one used by the FAA and such, so we do not see them. It is some sort of transmission similar in wavelength to the suns rays as they pass through a longer stretch of the atmosphere just before sunset and just after sunrise.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, "The Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC) is enclosed within a Military Operating Area (MOA) which overlays 6.5 million acres. Embedded within the MOA are four separate training ranges: Bravos 16, 17, 19, and 20; an integrated air defense system comprised of 37 real or simulated radars throughout the Dixie Valley area; and a supersonic flying area. The four ranges and various electronic warfare sites comprise 84,000 acres of withdrawn land (1.3% of the MOA). The entire FRTC is instrumented with a Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System (TACTS)."

"Bravo-17 (R4804) is located 23 NM east-southeast (099 DEG) of NAS Fallon at an altitude of 4153 feet... The Electronic Warfare Range is located 23 NM east (088 DEG) of NAS Fallon in the southern Dixie Valley at an altitude of 4170 feet... This area, together with B-17, is the most frequently used training destination for pilots flying out of NAS Fallon."

Extensive flight operations are, obviously, to be expected as well as intense radio and radar traffic. It is not surprising that such a large operation would be detected by nearby radars. Additionally, all anomalies to the east of Reno ocurred Monday - Friday between 9:42am and 7:57pm local time. This seems consistent with weekday and primarily daytime flight training.

This link provides a map (shown to the right) containing the training routes over Nevada and includes shaded areas that show the MOA's (Military Operations Areas) throughout the state.

Considering the location and nature of Fallon, it appears entirely likely that the explanation of the radar anomalies to the east of Reno is aircraft activity.

ELKO NV CONFIRMATION

In addition to the Reno site, I was also monitoring the Elko NV NEXRAD station and thus able to compare the radar returns from both. While activity was more visible from Reno, Elko was also able to ocasionally pick up spokes at the same time as Reno. As expected, the spokes at Elko pointed to the southwest--towards Fallon and its associated restricted airspace.

A full catalog of all the anomalies is available here.

I was then able to superimpose the Elko radar image on top of the Reno image. Below we have 3 images: An image from Reno, an image from Elko at the same time, and then an image with the two images super-imposed on a single image.

Reno

Elko

Superimposed

As we can see in the final (superimposed) image, the spokes from each image intersect at the point marked by the "X". This is within Restricted Airspace R-4816N and R-4816S, both of which are controlled by Fallon and are for military training operations between 1500 feet and 18,000 feet.

The area of the restricted area may be observed by going to Maps.com, going to "Aeronautical Maps" and entering "Austin, NV," which is a small town to the southeast of the restricted area. Click on the arrow to take you northwest and you will find the restricted area. You will also find the "Carson Sink" restricted area to the northwest of Fallon which is also used by Top Gun. These restricted areas can also be found on the "Las Vegas" sectional chart published by the FAA.

CONCLUSION

Anomalies at Reno were among the most interesting observed since they were much more striking, visually, and did not always occur at the exact same radials. It was exciting to compare the Reno anomalies with Elko and to use the two sources to triangulate the physical position of the aircraft that was being detected by the two radars.

It would appear that all anomalies at Reno are consistent with flight operations at the Top Gun training station at Fallon NAS. Corresponding spokes from Elko allowed triangulation which confirms the location of the interference was generally to the immediate east of Fallon in restricted airspace. The anomalies were observed only on weekdays and almost always during the early afternoon. However, the anomalies were never detected between 8pm and 9am local time. This, too, appears consistent with general daytime training exercises at Top Gun with an occasional after-sunset exercise.