With ultra-short-wave radio waves in 1925, did John L. Reinartz make
it possible to look thru metal plates?

I'm reading the book _Ralph 124c 41 +_, written in 1911. The copy I
have is a reprint from 1958, and there's a footnote on page 77 that
says, "In 1925 John L. Reinartz, working with ultra-short radio waves,
actually made it possible to look through solid metal plates with the
naked eye."

Did this happen? Is this possible? How do you look through solid metal
plates with the naked eye? What do objects on the other side look
like?

Dear aoogaaoo-ga

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

I suspect the publication you have may have taken some information out
of context, or perhaps even taken some liberties with the information
they allegedly had. While John L. Reinartz has many claims to fame in
the short wave radio world, the ability to see through metal is not
one of them:

WHO WAS K6BJ?
http://www.k6bj.org/Club%20History/Who%20Was%20K6BJ.htm

Reinhartz introduced propagation science to amateur radio and did
conduct a number of notable experiments in this area. The fact is,
however, that he was quite preoccupied during most of 1925 as he was
serving as the radio operator for the MacMillan Arctic Expedition of
June to October of that year. He wasn't even officially recognized for
any of his research until 1929 when he was rewarded for his work with
a commission as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. This alone suggests
that Reinhartz did not create such a device or he would certainly have
held a much greater public recognition in response to it ? perhaps, it
might be even speculated, a Nobel Prize.

AMATEUR RADIO HALL OF FAME
http://www.hamradiomarket.com/articles/HallofFame.htm

The US government has been developing a device called RadarVision for
use in combat to allow troops to "see through" certain obstacles, but
even in our advanced state of technology, the limitation continues to
this day to be objects made of metal.

NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
?RadarVision 2000? Product Features"
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/wici/timedomain071100/tsld021.htm

Suffice it to say that if Reinartz had invented such a device we would
already have this capability, but we clearly do not.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



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John L. Reinartz

See through

Metal

Short wave

Radio

Frequency

1925

Great answer, thank you! Thorough and interesting.

This is absolute rubbish.

Many fanciful claims were made by so-called inventors in the early
days of electricity.

Ultra short radio waves would just be reflected, as evidenced by radar.

It's possible to see through metal with the naked eye if it's thin
enough, but I don't see (har) shortwave radio helping you see through
anything thicker than what you can already see through. Radio waves
aren't magic. Neither is light for that matter (har), but it's closer.