Cover photo Nov, 1975. The green "IR" is an artist's rendition. The camera failed to capture the actual laser image.

Jean_"Coco"_Montagu and partner Pierre_Brosens set up the laser Skywriter, October 1975

Writing on Clouds

One evening in October 1975, as dark clouds gathered in the skies over Cambridge, Mass., Jon and his friend Rick strolled along the north bank of the Charles River. Suddenly Jon pointed to the sky. "Holy smokes, Rick, do you see that!"

"Huh?" muttered Rick, not wanting to divert his gaze from the blond approaching on her bike.

Jon thumped him on the shoulder. "Look! It's moving away!"

Rick turned, just in time to glimpse an immense object, luminous green and saucer-shaped, as it shot behind a cloud. Meanwhile, phone lines to the local police were jammed as dozens of eyewitnesses tried to report a UFO sighting.

Jean_"Coco"_Montagu, the infamous prankster from MIT, was at it again. Forget about granite statues mysteriously vanishing and reappearing on campus. This time he was inciting the locals to near-panic with a six watt argon laser, and a high-tech scanning system built at his own company.

The laser projection system, dubbed the "Skywriter", was designed and built at General_Scanning, Inc., of Watertown, MA. It consisted of a 6 watt Spectra Physics argon laser, two G-100PD optical scanners, two A-600 closed loop scanner drivers, and a vector path controller. The system did not yet have a beam chopper.

The Skywriter was destined to become the first product of a new, and exciting,  joint venture.

Next:  INTERSCAN