Dramatized play of court of Old King Neptune aboard ship Saint Clara in Lima, Peru, during the 1938 Pan-American Conference (akin to the U.S. Navy ritual for sailors crossing the equator for the first time). Governor Landon seen with delegates to the Pan-American party at Lima. Court members and King Neptune during the court. Spectators watch the event. Correspondents throw most of the courtiers into water.
Space research from the ground with a Scatter Radar. National Bureau of Standards laboratories in Boulder, Colorado. The Central Radio Propogation Laboratory. Cars parked outside. Hills in the background. Dr. Kenneth Bowles and a colleague work on a formula. Animation: Incoherent scatter of radio waves by electrons in the ionosphere. Transmission of powerful pulsed radio signal in a narrow beam. The beam penetrates the ionosphere and excites the free electrons. The scatter a weak signal which is detected by a sensitive antenna, and the signal comes back to Earth. Remaining portions of a sensitive antenna at the pioneering field site in Havana, Illinois. Dr. Ken Bowles and other scientists decide on a site. Animation: The magnetic equator and lines of the magnetic field. Pulsed radar signals and lines of force on the monitor. Animation: Chemical composition of the Earth's atmospheric gases. The scientists decide on Lima in Peru, due to its proximity to the magnetic equator and U.S. Lima, Peru: Buildings, guards, churches, plazas and boulevards in Lima including the Government Palace in Lima with guards in front, the Catedral de Lima (Catheral of Lima) and the Plaza Mayor de Lima . Construction work in Lima. Cars on a market street. People on the sidewalk. Shipping and port facilities in Callao, Peru. Workers unload goods. People board a Braniff International aircraft. Housing facility in the Lima suburb of Miraflores.
U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull leads the U.S. delegation to the 8th International Pan-American Conference in Lima, Peru. The U.S. delegation arrives in Lima by ship. The delegates are received by Peruvian dignitaries and local crowds. Secretary Hull is greeted by the Peruvian dignitaries. Other delegates disembark the ship and greet the crowd. Little Peruvian girls with flowers welcome the delegation. The Pan-American Conference venue. Flags of the participating nations. Delegates and dignitaries arrive for the Conference. The delegates seated inside. Secretary hull opens the conference with a military speech warning dictator states abroad that the U.S. is willing and able to safeguard the Western Hemisphere.
The 8th Pan-American Conference in Lima, Peru. A building. The flags of various countries hanging from a wall. The Governor of Kansas, Alf Landon, speaks and he warns the threat of Nazi Germany and fascist dictators all over the world. He talks about America's solidarity against persecution and tyranny.
The 8th International Pan American Conference in Lima, Peru. View of a ship. Children standing aboard the ship. Several dignitaries are greeted aboard the ship. Various flags on the Palace of Government building. Delegates attend the Eight International Pan American Conference. U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull gives a speech. He says that the U.S. is willing and able to safeguard the Western Hemisphere. The delegates applaud.
The Lima Conference in Lima, Peru. Former U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull presiding at the meeting. Officers seated at a desk. They discuss documents. Typists type documents on typewriters.