The AN/CPS-9 radar, the first radar specifically designed for meteorological use, was produced in the United States around 1949[1] and unveiled by the Air Weather Service (now the Air Force Weather Agency) in 1954.
[2] The AN/CPS-9 was installed at military bases worldwide, as well as laboratories, such as the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (AFGL), the Phillips Laboratory (PL), and all weather training facilities and universities.
The first operational CPS-9 was installed at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, on 20 June 1954; that radar remained operational for 30 years before finally being replaced on 14 July 1984 by a more modern radar, the AN/FPS-77 (Fuller 1990a).
The Condon Report on Unidentified Flying Objects refers to Texas A&M research using the AN/CPS-9.
Despite this, researchers could identify storms strong enough to produce hail by looking for areas with those diminished returns.