During March of 1946 informal discussions were held in Cambridge Massachusetts. The theme of these discussions was the future of photographic meteor research and the fast growing interest in a better understanding of the upper atmosphere. In these discussions it was decided to establish a program of cooperation between Harvard University, M.I.T. , the U.S. Navy, and the Canadian Government. Harvard University in conjunction with the U.S. Navy would take the major responsibility for camera development. M.I.T. would study the height and velocities, and the headquarters for the reduction of the meteor spectra would be in Ottawa. However locations of sites needed to be established, sites in Both Canada and the United States were chosen because a larger lattitude spread for this study would result in a better understanding of the varying properties of the upper atmosphere. The decision to locate the site in Newbrook, Alberta was due to the fact that auroral interference is less in western Canada than in the east, and the Federal Government had some leased land at this site for magnetic experiments. As well as Newbrook, a sister site was setup at Meanook some 26 miles away.