NIEMAND. No, no. The weather had nothing to do with it. I mean the Sun
had to be above the horizon at both places. A person might undergo an
attack soon after sunrise in New York but there would be no
corresponding record of an attack in California where it was still dark.
Conversely, a person might be stricken late in the afternoon in
California without a corresponding attack in New York where the Sun had
set. Dr. Hillyard and I had been searching desperately for a clue. We
had both noticed that the attacks occurred only during the daylight
hours but this had not seemed especially significant. Here we had
evidence pointing directly to the source of trouble. It must have some
connection with the Sun.
LATHAM. That must have had you badly puzzled at first.
NIEMAND. It certainly did. It looked as if we were headed back to the
Middle Ages when astrology and medicine went hand in hand. But since it
was our only lead we had no other choice but to follow it regardless of
the consequences. Here luck played somewhat of a part, for Hillyard
happened to have a contact that proved invaluable to us. Several years
before Hillyard had gotten to know a young astrophysicist, Henry
Middletown, who had come to him suffering from a severe case of myositis
in the arms and shoulders. Hillyard had been able to effect a complete
cure for which the boy was very grateful, and they had kept up a
desultory correspondence. Middletown was now specializing in radio
astronomy at the government's new solar observatory on Turtle Back
Mountain in Arizona. If it had not been for Middletown's help I'm afraid
our investigation would never have gotten past the clinical stage.
LATHAM. In what way was Middletown of assistance?
NIEMAND. It was the old case of workers in one field of science being
completely ignorant of what was going on in another field. Someday we
will have to establish a clearing house in science instead of keeping it
in tight little compartments as we do at present. Well, Hillyard and I
packed up for Arizona with considerable misgivings. We were afraid
Middletown wouldn't take our findings seriously but somewhat to our
surprise he heard our story with the closest attention. I guess
astronomers have gotten so used to hearing from flying saucer
enthusiasts and science-fiction addicts that nothing surprises them any
more. When we had finished he asked to see our records. Hillyard had
them all set down for easy numerical tabulation. Middletown went to work
with scarcely a word. Within an hour he had produced a chart that was
simply astounding.
* * * * *
LATHAM. Can you describe this chart for us?
NIEMAND. It was really quite simple. But if it had not been for
Middletown's experience in charting other solar phenomena it would never
have occurred to us to do it. First, he laid out a series of about
thirty squares horizontally across a sheet of graph paper. He dated
these beginning March 1, 1955, when our records began. In each square he
put a number from 1 to 10 that was a rough index of the number and
intensity of the attacks reported on that day. Then he laid out another
horizontal row below the first one dated twenty-seven days later. That
is, the square under March 1st in the top row was dated March 28th in
the row below it. He filled in the chart until he had an array of dozens
of rows that included all our data down to May, 1958.
When Middletown had finished it was easy to see that the squares of
highest index number did not fall at random on the chart. Instead they
fell in slightly slanting parallel series so that you could draw
straight lines down through them. The connection with the Sun was
obvious.
LATHAM. In what way?
NIEMAND. Why, because twenty-seven days is about the synodic period of
solar rotation. That is, if you see a large spot at the center of the
Sun's disk today, there is a good chance if it survives that you will
see it at the same place twenty-seven days later. But that night
Middletown produced another chart that showed the connection with the
Sun in a way that was even more convincing.
LATHAM. How was that?
NIEMAND. I said that the lines drawn down through the days of greatest
mental disturbance slanted slightly. On this second chart the squares
were dated under one another not at intervals of twenty-seven days, but
at intervals of twenty-seven point three days.
LATHAM. Why is that so important?
NIEMAND. Because the average period of solar rotation in the sunspot
zone is not twenty-seven days but twenty-seven point three days. And on
this chart the lines did not slant but went vertically downward. The
correlation with the synodic rotation of the Sun was practically
perfect.
LATHAM. But how did you get onto the S-Regions?
NIEMAND. Middletown was immediately struck by the resemblance between
the chart of mental disturbance and one he had been plotting over the
years from his radio observations. Now when he compared the two charts
the resemblance between the two was unmistakable. The pattern shown by
the chart of mental disturbance corresponded in a striking way with the
solar chart but with this difference. The disturbances on the Earth
started two days later on the average than the disturbances due to the
S-Regions on the Sun. In other words, there was a lag of about
forty-eight hours between the two. But otherwise they were almost
identical.
LATHAM. But if these S-Regions of Middletown's are invisible how could
he detect them?
NIEMAND. The S-Regions are invisible to the eye through an _optical_
telescope, but are detected with ease by a _radio_ telescope. Middletown
had discovered them when he was a graduate student working on radio
astronomy in Australia, and he had followed up his researches with the
more powerful equipment at Turtle Back Mountain. The formation of an
S-Region is heralded by a long series of bursts of a few seconds
duration, when the radiation may increase up to several thousand times
that of the background intensity. These noise storms have been recorded
simultaneously on wavelengths of from one to fifteen meters, which so
far is the upper limit of the observations. In a few instances, however,
intense bursts have also been detected down to fifty cm.
LATHAM. I believe you said the periods of mental disturbance last for
about ten or twelve days. How does that tie-in with the S-Regions?
NIEMAND. Very closely. You see it takes about twelve days for an
S-Region to pass across the face of the Sun, since the synodic rotation
is twenty-seven point three days.
LATHAM. I should think it would be nearer thirteen or fourteen days.
NIEMAND. Apparently an S-Region is not particularly effective when it is
just coming on or just going off the disk of the Sun.
LATHAM. Are the S-Regions associated with sunspots?
NIEMAND. They are connected in this way: that sunspot activity and
S-Region activity certainly go together. The more sunspots the more
violent and intense is the S-Region activity. But there is not a
one-to-one correspondence between sunspots and S-Regions. That is, you
cannot connect a particular sunspot group with a particular S-Region.
The same thing is true of sunspots and magnetic storms.
LATHAM. How do you account for this?
NIEMAND. We don't account for it.
* * * * *
LATHAM. What other properties of the S-Regions have you discovered?
NIEMAND. Middletown says that the radio waves emanating from them are
strongly circularly polarized. Moreover, the sense of rotation remains
constant while one is passing across the Sun. If the magnetic field
associated with an S-Region extends into the high solar corona through
which the rays pass, then the sense of rotation corresponds to the
ordinary ray of the magneto-ionic theory.
LATHAM. Does this mean that the mental disturbances arise from some form
of electromagnetic radiation?
NIEMAND. We doubt it. As I said before, the charts show a lag of about
forty-eight hours between the development of an S-Region and the onset
of mental disturbance. This indicates that the malignant energy
emanating from an S-Region consists of some highly penetrating form of
corpuscular radiation, as yet unidentified.[A]
[Footnote A: Middletown believes that the Intense radiation recently
discovered from information derived from Explorer I and III has no
connection with the corpuscular S-radiation.]
LATHAM. A question that puzzles me is why some people are affected by
the S-Regions while others are not.
NIEMAND. Our latest results indicate that probably _no one_ is
completely immune. All are affected in _some_ degree. Just why some
should be affected so much more than others is still a matter of
speculation.
LATHAM. How long does an S-Region last?
NIEMAND. An S-Region may have a lifetime of from three to perhaps a
dozen solar rotations. Then it dies out and for a time we are free from
this malignant radiation. Then a new region develops in perhaps an
entirely different region of the Sun. Sometimes there may be several
different S-Regions all going at once.
LATHAM. Why were not the S-Regions discovered long ago?
NIEMAND. Because the radio exploration of the Sun only began since the
end of World War II.
LATHAM. How does it happen that you only got patients suffering from
S-radiation since about 1955?
NIEMAND. I think we did get such patients previously but not in large
enough numbers to attract attention. Also the present sunspot cycle
started its rise to maximum about 1954.
LATHAM. Is there no way of escaping the S-radiation?
NIEMAND. I'm afraid the only sure way is to keep on the unilluminated
side of the Earth which is rather difficult to do. Apparently the
corpuscular beam from an S-Region is several degrees wide and not very
sharply defined, since its effects are felt simultaneously over the
entire continent. Hillyard and Middletown are working on some form of
shielding device but so far without success.
LATHAM. What is the present state of S-Region activity?
NIEMAND. At the present moment there happens to be no S-Region activity
on the Sun. But a new one may develop at any time. Also, the outlook for
a decrease in activity is not very favorable. Sunspot activity continues
at a high level and is steadily mounting in violence. The last sunspot
cycle had the highest maximum of any since 1780, but the present cycle
bids fair to set an all time record.
LATHAM. And so you believe that the S-Regions are the cause of most of
the present trouble in the world. That it is not ourselves but something
outside ourselves--
NIEMAND. That is the logical outcome of our investigation. We are
controlled and swayed by forces which in many cases we are powerless to
resist.
LATHAM. Could we not be warned of the presence of an S-Region?
NIEMAND. The trouble is they seem to develop at random on the Sun. I'm
afraid any warning system would be worse than useless. We would be
crying WOLF! all the time.
LATHAM. How may a person who is not particularly susceptible to this
malignant radiation know that one of these regions is active?
NIEMAND. If you have a feeling of restlessness and anxiety, if you are
unable to concentrate, if you feel suddenly depressed and discouraged
about yourself, or are filled with resentment toward the world, then you
may be pretty sure that an S-Region is passing across the face of the
Sun. Keep a tight rein on yourself. For it seems that evil will always
be with us ... as long as the Sun shall continue to shine upon this
little world.