Studying a Solar Storm From 1972 Unlocks Vietnam War Mystery

COLORADO.EDU According to documents from the the Vietnam War, scientists observed an enormous solar storm about 15 hours befores the mines detonated. On Aug. 4, 1972, U.S. military pilots flying south of Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam saw something unexpected. More than two dozen sea mines suddenly—and without apparent explanation—exploding in the water.  Now, CU Boulder engineering professor Delores Knipp and her colleagues have dug into this four-decades-old naval mystery. In a commentary published recently in the journal Space Weather, the team reports that the mines were likely triggered by magnetized gas…

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