I have been puzzled by certain features of the beacon signal: given the unlikelihood that the beacon would, at these latitudes, land in sufficiently shallow water for recovery I am surprised that the Soviet engineers would supply a location device. If the beacon was destined for orbit the additional weight of a locator circuit would be difficult to justify. Assuming that the soviets do not want us to salvage the beacon I wonder why they would place a signalling device on board which would certainly betray its presence to enemy ships. I figure that rather than playing an auxilliary role, the beacon signal is a main function of the device. Speaking with the Officer of the Watch I learnt that we are passing close to the wreckage of the launch vehicle. I suggest we make a detour for inspection and analysis. One last remark. Given the surface scattering the signal from the device is hard to detect but the traces we have found show that its timing is extraordinarily precise and regular. I have no explanation for this but it is difficult to believe it is a case of over-engineering.