• [yasid] Man From UNCLE re: MASERS

    From danny burstein@3:633/10 to All on Friday, July 03, 2026 02:36:19
    pre-emptive apology as I thought I had sent this
    a year or three ago but I don't see it in my files
    and the days of easy and reliable Usenet searching
    went the way of honesty in gov't. So if this is
    a dupe, well, sorry.

    The Man from UNCLE books are close enough to SF so
    please be gentle with me.

    Anyway, the question: In one of the books Napolean
    is shacking up with the obligatory Hot Dudette in,
    iirc, a Paris hotel room. Which proceeds to lock
    them both in and they get attacked by a super intense
    sound system, which Napolean explains is based on
    a MASER ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission
    of radiation"), which is making all that noise.

    My memory was jogged just now courtesy of yet
    another report on (alleged) "Havana Syndrome".

    Anyone recall which novel this was in? Thanks

    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Robert Woodward@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, July 02, 2026 21:50:21
    In article <Pine.NEB.4.64.2607030228590.1149@panix2.panix.com>,
    danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com> wrote:

    pre-emptive apology as I thought I had sent this
    a year or three ago but I don't see it in my files
    and the days of easy and reliable Usenet searching
    went the way of honesty in gov't. So if this is
    a dupe, well, sorry.


    You posted this back in March this year. It was followed up by another
    post when you found the answer


    Anyway, the question: In one of the books Napolean
    is shacking up with the obligatory Hot Dudette in,
    iirc, a Paris hotel room. Which proceeds to lock
    them both in and they get attacked by a super intense
    sound system, which Napolean explains is based on
    a MASER ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission
    of radiation"), which is making all that noise.


    The answer being:

    In The Man from U.N.C.L.E. book series,
    Napoleon Solo is attacked by a MASER
    (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated
    Emission of Radiation) in his hotel
    room in the first novel,
    The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #1: The Thousand Coffins Affair
    (1965) by Michael Avallone.

    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. -------------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From BCFD 36@3:633/10 to All on Friday, July 03, 2026 11:05:53
    On 7/2/26 19:36, danny burstein wrote:
    pre-emptive apology as I thought I had sent this
    a year or three ago but I don't see it in my files
    and the days of easy and reliable Usenet searching
    went the way of honesty in gov't.ÿ So if this is
    a dupe, well, sorry.

    The Man from UNCLE books are close enough to SF so
    please be gentle with me.

    Anyway, the question:ÿ In one of the books Napolean
    is shacking up with the obligatory Hot Dudette in,
    iirc, a Paris hotel room.ÿ Which proceeds to lock
    them both in and they get attacked by a super intense
    sound system, which Napolean explains is based on
    a MASER ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission
    of radiation"), which is making all that noise.

    My memory was jogged just now courtesy of yet
    another report on (alleged) "Havana Syndrome".

    Anyone recall which novel this was in?ÿ Thanks

    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    The only other place I can recall a MASER being mentioned is an episode
    of Lost In Space where Will Robinson is sent back to earth somehow with
    a MASER beam to get come carbon tetrachloride for something. I believe
    it was in black and white. But I don't think it was the MASER as we know
    it today.

    We still don't hear the term much if at all even though they are common.

    --
    ----------------

    Dave Scruggs
    Senior Software Engineer - Lockheed Martin, et. al (mostly Retired)
    Captain - Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
    Board of Directors - Boulder Creek Fire Protection District (What was I thinking?)

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Scott Lurndal@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, July 04, 2026 15:01:11
    ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:
    In article <1128tm2$22q2d$2@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
    On 7/2/26 19:36, danny burstein wrote:
    pre-emptive apology as I thought I had sent this
    a year or three ago but I don't see it in my files
    and the days of easy and reliable Usenet searching
    went the way of honesty in gov't.ÿ So if this is
    a dupe, well, sorry.

    The Man from UNCLE books are close enough to SF so
    please be gentle with me.

    Anyway, the question:ÿ In one of the books Napolean
    is shacking up with the obligatory Hot Dudette in,
    iirc, a Paris hotel room.ÿ Which proceeds to lock
    them both in and they get attacked by a super intense
    sound system, which Napolean explains is based on
    a MASER ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission
    of radiation"), which is making all that noise.

    My memory was jogged just now courtesy of yet
    another report on (alleged) "Havana Syndrome".

    Anyone recall which novel this was in?ÿ Thanks

    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    The only other place I can recall a MASER being mentioned is an episode
    of Lost In Space where Will Robinson is sent back to earth somehow with
    a MASER beam to get come carbon tetrachloride for something. I believe
    it was in black and white. But I don't think it was the MASER as we know >>it today.


    That was not a first season episode, so it would have been in color.

    According to Google's AI, it was season 1 episode 15, "Return from Outer Space" aired december 29, 1965.


    Also, he was sent back in time as well as space, so he arrived just
    post WWII, which was a plot element. One of the better episodes.

    I'm about to dig out the DVD and rewatch it.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Scott Lurndal@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, July 05, 2026 14:33:55
    ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:
    In article <Xe92S.70186$XTrf.42785@fx15.iad>,
    Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
    ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:
    In article <1128tm2$22q2d$2@dont-email.me>, BCFD 36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
    On 7/2/26 19:36, danny burstein wrote:
    pre-emptive apology as I thought I had sent this
    a year or three ago but I don't see it in my files
    and the days of easy and reliable Usenet searching
    went the way of honesty in gov't.ÿ So if this is
    a dupe, well, sorry.

    The Man from UNCLE books are close enough to SF so
    please be gentle with me.

    Anyway, the question:ÿ In one of the books Napolean
    is shacking up with the obligatory Hot Dudette in,
    iirc, a Paris hotel room.ÿ Which proceeds to lock
    them both in and they get attacked by a super intense
    sound system, which Napolean explains is based on
    a MASER ("microwave amplification by stimulated emission
    of radiation"), which is making all that noise.

    My memory was jogged just now courtesy of yet
    another report on (alleged) "Havana Syndrome".

    Anyone recall which novel this was in?ÿ Thanks

    _____________________________________________________
    Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
    ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ dannyb@panix.com
    [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

    The only other place I can recall a MASER being mentioned is an episode >>>>of Lost In Space where Will Robinson is sent back to earth somehow with >>>>a MASER beam to get come carbon tetrachloride for something. I believe >>>>it was in black and white. But I don't think it was the MASER as we know >>>>it today.


    That was not a first season episode, so it would have been in color.

    According to Google's AI, it was season 1 episode 15, "Return from Outer Space"
    aired december 29, 1965.


    Also, he was sent back in time as well as space, so he arrived just
    post WWII, which was a plot element. One of the better episodes.

    I'm about to dig out the DVD and rewatch it.

    Huh. I would have said later. I kind of remember the later characterizations >of B9 & Smith. Of course, I would have had only a B&W TV watching the reruns >in the 70s, so I would not have known color one way or the other.

    I watched s1e15 yesterday. First thing I noticed was the length; each
    first season episode was almost 52 minutes in length (compared with
    42 or so for modern hour-long shows). It was, indeed, in B&W.

    Dr. Smith is cringeworthy, to the extent that it was difficult
    to watch (John Robinson was far too tolerant of Smith's idiocy);
    I can see why Guy Williams was upset in later seasons when the storylines focused on Smith and Will rather than the science fiction aspects.

    It would have been interesting to see how Alpha Control reacted
    to Will's presence on earth, but that was not covered in the
    episode.


    google, google...

    OK, I may be remembering the carbon tetrachloride hook, but was grafting
    it onto the season 3 episode Visit to a Hostile Planet:

    Visit to a Hostile Planet (Season 3, Episode 2): The Jupiter
    2 passes through a time warp and the whole Robinson family
    lands on Earth in 1947, where they are mistaken for Martians
    and trigger a UFO scare.

    I'll check that one out today.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)