For those of you who do not have WWW access, here are some excerpts from the
Treasure Net at http://www.halcyon.com/treasur/trenet.html mentioned by a
member of HISTARCH (sorry, I forgot his name).  The WWW pages are really
beautiful with lots of color photos, but the underlying point of view is
alarming.  What is perhaps most alarming is that universities are involved
(perhaps unwittingly) in this sort of thing.  Read on:
 
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TreasureNews
 
Alamo excavation to begin
 
St. Mary's University along with the Tesoro del Alamo Preservation Society
has won it's bid to excavate a suspected Alamo-era well. Remote sensing
data, including a ground penetrating radar survey conducted last year,
indicates the possible existence of several metallic objects at about 30
feet. According to Frank Buschbacher, project coordinator, "we suspect
valuables may have been thrown into the well shortly before the battle"
 
This project, originally proposed by NUMA, The National Underwater Marine
Agency, in 1985, was bogged down in a bureaucratic quagmire. St. Mary's
University decided to accept full responsibility for any damages which may
be incurred.
 
While the project must still receive the approval of the Texas Antiquities
Commission, insiders are suggesting that the permit will be issued.
 
 
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Carl Fismer obtains underwater leases
 
1/15/95
 
by Jim Walker
 
In July, 1994, Captain Carl (Fizz) Fismer of Tavernier, Florida, a
thoroughly professional underwater treasure salvor with more than 25 years
full-time experience, and good friend of mine, succeeded in obtaining one
of the most desirable (according to Spanish archival researchers Gene Lyon
and Jack Haskins) underwater leases in the Bahamas, authorizing his search
and possible recovery of potentially virgin Spanish galleons.
 
Selecting the lease area aided by new satellite analysis techniques backed
with research and details from the original Spanish archives, Captain
Fismer got a very late start in '94 because of permitting delays to perform
an initial survey and mag his lease area, finding more than enough targets
and specifically identifiable 'items' to warrant full-scale operations
beginning this year.
 
What's the point? Since the Net reaches more interested and capable people
than any other possible medium, Captain Fismer suggested I post a message
inviting seriously interested, capable and hard-working divers to apply to
work with his core team of specialists during some or all of this season,
running June through October, to work their wreck sites around the only
atoll in the Western Hemisphere, Hogsty Reef, also known to the Spaniards
as the "Dragon's Teeth."
 
This is no joke, no investment prospectus, no ordinary vacation, no place
for the weak or the opportunist, and nothing but an invitation to hard
work, with the prospect of sharing the reward as well as risk with some of
the most reputable, honest and professional people in this field. Who
knows? It may even be worth a few credits in history or phys ed on your
local campus. A solid logbook and clean physical are essentials; mechanical
aptitude, electronics, military or commercial diving background and
underwater photography experiences are real pluses.
 
So if you feel you can measure up or want to learn more, the best move you
can make is to shift to snail-mail and contact Captain Fismer directly at:
 
Captain Carl (Fizz) Fismer P.O. Box 1733, Tavernier, FL 33070, and he'll
answer you directly. As an alternative, send a FAX to his attention at
407-878-9394.
 
Please allow a good two weeks for this busy guy to respond. Since there's
substantial lead time required to obtain the necessary permissions from the
Bahamian government, it probably wouldn't hurt to check it out fairly soon,
or the window of opportunity will start shrinking.
 
Please don't expect to get each and every detail up-front, since
maintaining security is ALWAYS a concern in these operations. If you do
respond, please tell my good friend of more than 20 years that you saw this
on the Net, and help me make a believer out of him.
 
If you happen to live on the West Coast or are planning to attend the DEMA
Show in San Francisco at the end of this month, you'll be able to meet Fizz
inperson, working out of the Fisher M-Scope metal detecting company's
booth. Why am I doing this? Only to see that a good friend has the best
chance of connecting with the best and the brightest.
 
Selkirk Lighthouse
Jim Walker, Keeper
Lighthouse Marina
Voice: 315-298-6688 P.O. Box 228
Fax: 315-298-6685 Pulaski, NY 13142-0228
e-mail to: [log in to unmask]
 
Your news stories are welcomed! E-mail me at [log in to unmask]
 
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Special Events
 
JPL Short course "Synthetic Aperture Radar: Design, Processing, and
Applications"
 
On February 13-17, 1995, UCLA Extension will present the short course,
"Synthetic Aperture Radar: Design, Processing, and Applications", on the
UCLA campus in Los Angeles.
 
The instructors are Anthony Freeman, JPL, Benjamin Holt, JPL, Robert
Crippen, JPL, Dean L. Mensa, private consultant, Paul Rosen, JPL, JoBea
Way, JPL, and Jakob van Zyl, JPL..
 
Participants receive extensive course notes and data set samplers from
SIR-C/X- SAR and the Alaska SAR Facility's ERS-1 on CD-ROM. Included in the
CD-ROM package is a 200-page basic introduction to how imaging radar
works..
 
This course focuses on the understanding and use of synthetic aperture
radar (SAR) imagery. This imagery has been obtained from aircraft and
spaceborne platforms for decades, but recent successful national and
international spaceborne SAR Earth related missions, along with
developments in the use of multiple frequencies, polarizations and
interferometry, have made SAR data even more useful (andavailable) for
quantitative approaches to geoscientific applications, and have expanded
the use of the data to more broad-based applications..
 
The first three days of the course provide an overview of the theory of SAR
and image formation, followed by discussions of radar scattering theory,
the use of multiple frequencies and polarizations, the technique of
interferometry, and the major applications of synthetic aperture radar
(SAR) data for earth science including ecology, hydrology, geology, and
oceanography, and for tactical applications such as target recognition. The
fourth day includes computer demonstrations of radar analysis software,
available data sets, and data interpretation. The last day is conducted in
a laboratory setting so attendees can manipulate the data themselves. The
radar imagery from the recent SIR-C/X-SAR shuttle-based flights and from
both the European Earth Remote Sensing satellite and the Japanese Earth
Resources Satellite is discussed in detail..
 
For additional information and a complete course description, please
contact Marcus Hennessy at:.
 
(310) 825-1047 / (310) 206-2815 fax / [log in to unmask] .
 
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