European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a the stars and stripes Friday april 3,1992 a senior airman John Jackson guards the airborne surveillance testbed at Andrews fab my. Flying Telescope almost went to find scuds during Gulf War Cox news service Andrews fab my. A the army a Star warriors on tuesday showed off a $660 million flying Telescope that was nearly dispatched to saudi Arabia to Hunt for scud missiles curing the persian Gulf War. The one of a kind experimental plane is a converted Boeing 767 with an 82-foot-Long bulge that looks like an inverted Bathtub welded atop the fuselage. It is the Only military plane bigger than a helicopter that carries a . Army insignia. Inside is a 7,000-Pound Telescope a super fast computer and a Crew of civilians who peer at modernistic terminals. The telescopes infrared sensors Are so sensitive that they have to be cooled with helium and liquid nitrogen. A we did seriously consider deploying this aircraft a said army it. Gen. Robert Hammond commander of the army strategic defense come in Huntsville ala., recalling last year s secret discussions within the military Over whether to Rush the a Star wars research plane to the persian Gulf. The Crew consists of two army officers and about 23 civilian employees of the planets builders Boeing Hughes aircraft and Honeywell. Normally based at the Boeing Plant in Seattle the plane landed at Andrews on monday and prepared to take optical measurements during a missile launch planned this month at the Nasa space Center at Wallops Island a. During the Andrews Stopover reporters were invited inside the cavernous fuselage which has the feel of a computer showroom set up in a mine Shaft. The plane called the airborne surveillance testbed is an obscure offshoot of the strategic defense initiative program that now serves to perfect the telescopes that the Bush administration wants to launch aboard missile spotting satellites after 1996. Originally the Pentagon planned to build a Small Fleet of such Telescope planes but now says this one will be the last of its  brings Chicopee mass. Apr Sarah Peterson and Marine pfc. Troy Lizardi were married in the same cargo hangar where they met one year ago during a Welcome Home ceremony for persion Gulf War troops. Guests at Westover fab on tuesday included Many of the volunteers who turned out around the clock to Greet the troops. Peterson was one of those volunteers when she met Lizardi returning from seven months of desert duty. It was easter sunday and Lizardi came through the door on the Arm of another woman a a Volunteer dressed in a Bunny suit. Still said the 18-year-old Bride a when i first saw him something about him just hit  during the run up to the Gulf War in the fall of 1990, the plane was Busy tracking mock intercontinental ballistic warheads at the Kwajalein Range at Marshall Island in the Pacific. Then about a month before operation desert storm the Crew got secret orders to Rush the plane to the White Sands missile Range in new Mexico to see whether it could Backstop the Patriot antimissile system against expected scud attacks. On feb. 9,1991 a three weeks after scuds began raining on saudi Arabia and Israel a the army plane soared nearly 10 Miles Over new Mexico aiming its Telescope just Over the horizon As a ground Crew set off a simulated scud from White Sands. The plane managed to track the test missile and to transmit clues to a Patriot antimissile unit below on where to find it according to an army fact Sheet distributed to reporters. However the White Sands test was Only a partial Success. A there were a few problems a conceded Jay deeds a Boeing manager who flew on that test flight. He said the plane had some difficulty a a acquiring the simulated scud adding that the problem has since been overcome. There apparently were also worries about How to keep the plane supplied with liquid nitrogen in saudi Arabia. A you will see the tank trucks on the runway a said William Congo an army spokesman. A you put that in the desert it May not be the Best  but the clincher said Hammond was that senior officers concluded that the Patriot Crews were already getting adequate warnings from other . Surveillance sys terns assigned to watch for scud launches. Though Hammond  identify the other sensors they reportedly included air Force Azacs radar surveillance planes and air Force spy satellites. A a decision was made that on balance it the army plane probably Wasny to really required a Hammond  full Circle Lizardi 21, said he and Peterson talked for hours and exchanged addresses. She threw him a kiss As he headed to a plane returning him to his California base but he did no to think head hear from her again. Letters Telephone Calls and visits followed and the couple got engaged in january. The wedding at Westover the main embarkation Point for the . Airlift took place on a float used in the. St. Patrick a Day Parade with an american Flag As a backdrop. Lizardi will be discharged from the marines in May.  sues pet store for illness she got from Bird from wire reports Towson my. A Marian Scarinzi is suing a pet store for $100,000, claiming she caught a disease that had caused the premature demise of her pet parakeet. Scarinzi of Rossville also said the Early death of her pet Bird caused her physical pain and emotional anguish according to a suit filed in Baltimore county circuit court. Scarinzi and her attorney Howard Grossfeld refused tuesday to discuss the Case although Grossfeld said the suit was not  the two declined to name the illness. Scarinzi a parakeet died in March 1989, three years after she purchased it from the doktor pet Center in White Marsh  spree Anchorage Alaska a the Fri has arrested a 26-year-old woman who allegedly went on a two week $1.2 million Check bouncing spree. Shawn Allison Taylor was arrested monday and charged with fraud after she tried to Cash a $251,000 Check on an account that did not exist the Fri said. Taylor had opened the account at John Hancock financial services with a $700,000 Check drawn on a National Bank of Alaska account she had closed agents said. She also is accused of sending a $375,000 Check from a bogus account to an Atlanta discount broker on March 18. Five Days later she opened a Paine Webber account in Alaska with a $100,000 Check. She then attempted to withdraw $50,000, but brokerage officials did not allow it police said. Taylor was being held on $15,000 bail and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 Fine if , 89, trapped Rosemount Minn. A an 89-year-old woman spent two Days trapped in a Chilly outdoor garage in Minnesota after a Security door snapped Smit behind her. A i kept warm by hugging myself and by doing All the calisthenic i know a Astrid Becker said tuesday. A i had a Brownie and some candies a peppermints and but terrains a and i ate them  the retired school teacher was found monday in the Auto repair garage at Dakota county technical College in the Minneapolis suburb of Rosemount said Sharon Lacomb a supervisor. Becker was leaving a meeting at the school saturday when she took a wrong turn through the automotive department and left through a Security door which locked behind  abuse cases Rise Chicago a nearly 2.7 million cases of child abuse were reported last year an increase of 6 percent Over 1990, a child abuse group said thursday. The number of cases Rose to 2.69 million in 1991 from 2.5 million the previous year the study reported. And an estimated 1,385 children died of abuse in 1991, an increase of 10 percent the National committee for prevention of child abuse said. While experts agreed that More cases were reported because of greater Public awareness they said some of the growth was attributed to an increasingly violent society harsh economic times and drug  haitians found at sea Miami a three coast guard cutters were crowded with haitians on wednesday As 495 More refugees fled their Homeland in a seaworthy vessels and were rescued in International Waters Between Haiti and Southern Florida. Joe Dye a coast guard spokesman said the haitians were held on the cutters Legare Forward and decisive for interviews by immigration and naturalization service officials. Haitians found to be economic refugees will be repatriated and those found to have a legitimate claim for political Asylum will be placed in the custody of the ins Dye said