{"id":47651,"date":"2021-02-05T10:45:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=47651"},"modified":"2021-02-05T10:50:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:50:54","slug":"the-last-elephant-cage-is-a-fascinating-nsa-documentary-about-the-monolithic-flr-9-antenna-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/the-last-elephant-cage-is-a-fascinating-nsa-documentary-about-the-monolithic-flr-9-antenna-system\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Last Elephant Cage&#8221; is a fascinating NSA documentary about the monolithic FLR-9 antenna system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-47652\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1282\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage.jpg 1282w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage-1024x477.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage-768x358.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/FLR-9-Elephant-cage-624x291.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1282px) 100vw, 1282px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Andrea Borgnino (IW0HK), who shares the following video&#8211;a 15 minute NSA documentary&#8211;about the FLR-9 &#8220;Elephant Cage&#8221; antenna in Anchorage, Alaska.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uh88Y2_33GI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uh88Y2_33GI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to view on YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino (IW0HK), who shares the following video&#8211;a 15 minute NSA documentary&#8211;about the FLR-9 &#8220;Elephant Cage&#8221; antenna in Anchorage, Alaska. Click here to view on YouTube.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3607,3,305,43,304],"tags":[4773,3335,6072,9124,813,812,4093],"class_list":["post-47651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-shortwave-radio","category-videos","tag-alaska","tag-elephant-cages","tag-flr-9","tag-history-of-the-flr-9","tag-national-security-agency","tag-nsa","tag-videos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-coz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24871,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/paul-remembers-the-flr-9-elephant-cage-in-misawa-japan\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":0},"title":"Paul remembers the FLR-9 &#8220;Elephant Cage&#8221; in Misawa Japan","author":"Thomas","date":"April 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul, who writes: I was a morse intercept operator in the USAF in the late 1960s. I have a nice picture of a FLR-9 at Misawa Japan (now gone I think): I was at Misawa from 68-70 in the USAF Security Service. I copied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Copy-of-Miisawa-1-e1490707808454.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Copy-of-Miisawa-1-e1490707808454.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Copy-of-Miisawa-1-e1490707808454.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Copy-of-Miisawa-1-e1490707808454.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11192,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/tearing-down-an-elephant-cage\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":1},"title":"Tearing down an Elephant Cage","author":"Thomas","date":"October 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This past week, I posted a couple of articles about\u00a0Wullenweber\u00a0antennas (a.k.a. \"Elephant Cages\"). Many thanks to Andrea Borgnino who shares this article by Joseph Trevithick via Medium.com: The U.S. Air Force Is Tearing Down a Giant Spy Antenna: \u2019Elephant cages\u2019 are a dying breed The U.S. Air Force has started\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11143,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/uncovering-the-wullenweber-elephant-cages\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":2},"title":"Uncovering Wullenweber&#8217;s &#8220;Elephant Cages&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"October 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bill Patalon, for sharing this article via Gizmodo: In the early days of electronic espionage, the US intelligence community didn't have the benefit of all-seeing spy satellites\u2014it had to intercept and interpret high-frequency radio waves transmitted by the Soviet Union. To do so, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/800px-CDAA_Elmendorf_AFB.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11213,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/san-diego-elephant-cage-scheduled-for-demolition\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":3},"title":"San Diego Elephant Cage scheduled for demolition","author":"Thomas","date":"October 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"On the topic of Wullenweber antennas, SWLing Post reader, Mike, points to this article on U-T San Diego's website: Navy's mysterious 'elephant cage' retired:\u00a0Cold War-era structure a visual landmark on Silver Strand Beachgoers will say goodbye this month to the \u201celephant cage\u201d -- the mysterious metal structure that has graced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SanDiego","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/SanDiego.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/SanDiego.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/SanDiego.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11167,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/mike-recalls-visiting-the-original-wullenweber-test-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":4},"title":"Mike recalls visiting the original Wullenweber test site","author":"Thomas","date":"October 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to our post Uncovering Wullenweber\u2019s \u201cElephant Cages,\u201d Mike comments: Sometime back around 2005-2009, I was doing maintenance on a NOAA climate station near Bondville, IL, and noticed several tall utility poles in the distance. As I figured they looked suspiciously like an antenna array, I asked the site\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illinois","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Illinois.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Illinois.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Illinois.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2642,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/nsa-declassifies-receiver-dynamics-primer\/","url_meta":{"origin":47651,"position":5},"title":"NSA declassifies &#8220;Receiver Dynamics&#8221; primer","author":"Thomas","date":"January 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On January 11, 2012 the National Security Agency (NSA) released a pre-1995 article entitled \"Receiver Dynamics\" from\u00a0its classified internal magazine, Cryptologic Quarterly. It contains an excellent, well-written explanation of the specifications of shortwave receivers used\u00a0by some of NSA's K4 divisions. Download the article here (PDF). Thanks to Ed in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/WJhf1000-300x127.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}