Some of you may be familiar with Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series, especially since the newest incarnation of the game, The Phantom Pain, had its premiere this year. The game is known for intertwining serious matters with quite odd humour and bizarre technology. But some ideas aren’t as abstract as they may seem.
If you’ve played either Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes or The Phantom Pain, you are familiar with the famous Fulton system. The idea seems pretty ridiculous – sending people up in the air with a balloon for the chopper to collect? Really amusing, but doesn’t seem true.
Surprisingly though, Fulton is an actually existing system. Also known as Surface-to-air recovery system (STARS), Fulton is a system used by the CIA, the United States Air Force and the United States Navy for retrieving people and cargo on the ground using an aircraft, like shown in the picture.
During the war, inspired by an old British exfiltration method, he decided to do better than that and began his work on what he called the Skyhook system. He experimented with weather balloons, nylon ropes and small weights to launch objects into the sky.
Unfortunately Fulton lacked the military support and the aircraft to actually retrieve what he sent into the air. He contacted the CIA that liked his idea and put him in touch with the Office of Naval Research. The agency and the Navy funded Fulton’s experiments and helped him refine his Skyhook concept.
After some experiments with and then living subjects like pigs, which turned out to be a success, the military finally decided to try a human pick-up. The soldiers found they could spread their arms and legs and to some extent even control their movement in the air.
In 1962, the CIA used Fulton’s Skyhook during Operation Coldfeet. The agency deployed agents to an abandoned Soviet drift station in the Arctic to grab Russian research. Since the successful completion of the mission, the CIA and the military continued to use the STARS system up to 1996 although apparently the system is used even nowadays to collect mail above hard-to-reach places like remote Arctic outposts.
https://fsmedia.imgix.net/07/08/85/db/bec5/4b27/bd2a/c0a33655db4f/cia-rescue.jpeg?w=700&dpr=1&auto=format&q=75
https://fsmedia.imgix.net/e2/46/e3/7b/752e/4b9e/ab22/d41b508f59b9/cia-rescue-2.jpeg?w=700&dpr=1&auto=format&q=75
If you’ve played either Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes or The Phantom Pain, you are familiar with the famous Fulton system. The idea seems pretty ridiculous – sending people up in the air with a balloon for the chopper to collect? Really amusing, but doesn’t seem true.
Surprisingly though, Fulton is an actually existing system. Also known as Surface-to-air recovery system (STARS), Fulton is a system used by the CIA, the United States Air Force and the United States Navy for retrieving people and cargo on the ground using an aircraft, like shown in the picture.
Fulton’s system was used from 1962 to 1996 and despite its apparent high-risk nature, only one fatal accident occured (1982). Only the increased availability of long-range helicopters with aerial refueling capability, caused this system to be used less often and in September 1996 the Air Force Special Operations Command ceased to use it. Below you can see the actual surface-to-air-recovery-system in action.
The inventor of STARS system, Robert Edison Fulton, Jr. is often called a mad scientist, with a taste for peculiar names for his inventions. During World War II, he created the gunairstructor — an advanced simulation pod designed to help aerial gunners learn how to fight. It was an early precursor to the combat and flight simulator games used today. After the war, he also took on the challenge of inventing a flying car and called it the Airphibian.
During the war, inspired by an old British exfiltration method, he decided to do better than that and began his work on what he called the Skyhook system. He experimented with weather balloons, nylon ropes and small weights to launch objects into the sky.
Unfortunately Fulton lacked the military support and the aircraft to actually retrieve what he sent into the air. He contacted the CIA that liked his idea and put him in touch with the Office of Naval Research. The agency and the Navy funded Fulton’s experiments and helped him refine his Skyhook concept.
After some experiments with and then living subjects like pigs, which turned out to be a success, the military finally decided to try a human pick-up. The soldiers found they could spread their arms and legs and to some extent even control their movement in the air.
In 1962, the CIA used Fulton’s Skyhook during Operation Coldfeet. The agency deployed agents to an abandoned Soviet drift station in the Arctic to grab Russian research. Since the successful completion of the mission, the CIA and the military continued to use the STARS system up to 1996 although apparently the system is used even nowadays to collect mail above hard-to-reach places like remote Arctic outposts.
https://fsmedia.imgix.net/07/08/85/db/bec5/4b27/bd2a/c0a33655db4f/cia-rescue.jpeg?w=700&dpr=1&auto=format&q=75
https://fsmedia.imgix.net/e2/46/e3/7b/752e/4b9e/ab22/d41b508f59b9/cia-rescue-2.jpeg?w=700&dpr=1&auto=format&q=75
Although retired from the military service, the legacy of Mr. Fulton lives on in Metal Gear Solid series, used by Big Boss to retrieve soldiers and also, what some of you might have noticed, in 2008 movie - The Dark Knight - where it is used by Batman to kidnap the corrupt Chinese accountant.
What are your thoughts? What do you think about Fulton's system? Have you ever come across some seemingly ridiculous idea in pop culture that turned out to be true?
Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/95unclass/Leary.html
https://www.inverse.com/article/5959-how-metal-gear-solid-s-fulton-recovery-system-works-in-real-life
http://warisboring.com/articles/the-true-story-of-metal-gear-solids-fulton-recovery-system/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system
What are your thoughts? What do you think about Fulton's system? Have you ever come across some seemingly ridiculous idea in pop culture that turned out to be true?
Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/95unclass/Leary.html
https://www.inverse.com/article/5959-how-metal-gear-solid-s-fulton-recovery-system-works-in-real-life
http://warisboring.com/articles/the-true-story-of-metal-gear-solids-fulton-recovery-system/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_surface-to-air_recovery_system
Comments
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
It's interesting to know that such an invention isn't only something out of a game. To be honest, it seemed quite ridiculous on the videos, so I never suspected it's a real thing :)
You’re right that the “Fulton” looks very funny and unnatural, so I’m surprised that this system is existing system and that it used by the CIA. Hmm, It may have a sense.
Your second video is great. I like it. It seems to be better than bungee jump :D
Unfortunatelly seemingly ridiculous idea in pop culture that turns out to be true doesn't come to my mind.
Probably using Fulton would be pretty fun. If they offered Fulton pick ups the way they offer bungee jumps I'd probably go for it :D
Pretty cool that video games demonstrated that technology, actually it is great that games more and more demonstrate the work of the special forces operators, in my opinion it is way better than crazy James Bond stuff (laser-watch, nuclear pen and etc).
As for video games nuclear pens and stuff are also pretty cool sometimes, but I really appreciate good historical/military research.
I'm not interested in games and do not know the game. I know that this is a successful series of games.
I have heard about such an extraction, but i had no idea that it was real! I alwaya thought it's just a "director's imagination" and in real life such a extraction would break your spine.. awesome!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Qo9Ndbrzw&t=3m50s