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Temporal Engineer Rich DDT calibrates a device control
panel during a field test in California. |
A small team of CiDR researchers, lead by Temporal Engineer Rich DDT, was conducting preliminary testing and calibration of the new system, including cooling and safety mechanisms, when aurora like lights and minor electrical discharge began to appear in the sky above the test site.
"It was very brief, colored light and what seemed to be low altitude electrical discharge. We shut down the final phase of the test after we noticed it," said Research Assistant Rebecca Flynn, "To my knowledge, this hasn't happened during the operation of a temporal device before."
CiDR researchers are currently consulting with meteorologists to determine if this disturbance was a natural phenomenon and if it could have been caused by the systems test.
"It could have been a coincidence, a phenomenon unrelated to our test," DDT said, "We have some possible explanations, but we really don't know for sure if there is a connection. The timing of the event is what makes this interesting."
This test was part of the WWII-era temporal device retrofitting project, and CiDR engineers have postponed further field testing until an explanation can be found.
"It may simply be that we need to complete all of the new component upgrades before we can test individual pieces," said Jessica Lawrence, Temporal Dynamics Engineer, "We are going to stick to computer simulations until we have all of the components finished."
The next field tests are scheduled to happen this summer if everything goes according to plans and there are no major setbacks.