PROHIBITION OF GEOPHYSICAL MODIFICATION ACTIVITY AS A WEAPON OF WAR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP74B00415R000100110006-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2001
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: July 20, 1972
• Content Type: OPEN

Approved For Release 2002/01/10: CIA-RDP74B00415R00010011`0
July 20, 1972
CONGRESSIONAL
charge from the plant, by using excess heat
as its energy source.
Mr. Austin also noted the efforts of Bottlers
of Coca-Cola directed toward achieving a
better environment. He cited such projects as
recycling centers in the United States for
the reclamation on one-way glass packages;
the collection and recycling of aluminum
cans by Bottlers of Coca-Cola in Australia;
and the collection for recycling of aluminum
bottle caps in South America, where almost
all of the Company's products are sold in
returnable packages.
Mr. Austin noted also the independent
funding, by his Company, of a number of
major studies into the total environmental
impact of all its packaging designed to seek
to determine their true cost, from the mining
and extraction of raw materials to the dis-
posal of waste products. That way, he said,
"we'll be able to make even more intelligent
decisions in the future."
Citing his Company's concern not only for
the physical environment, but for the quality
of life, Mr. Austin pointed to the Company's
efforts toward the development of a protein-
rich, nutritional beverage which could aid,
the undernourished, and to the Company's
efforts in a program in its Florida citrus
operations to upgrade the standard of living
for the migratory-type wrokers who harvest
the citrus.
The protein-beverage work, in progress for
more than four years, is. not altogether al-
truistic, Mr. Austin said, "We expect to profit
from this venture. But so will those whose
diets and lives are improved through our
efforts. Those enterprises which succeed to
the fullest are the very ones which enrich
everyone involved."
The Company's farm labor reform proj-
ect, Mr. Austin noted, did not contain the
profit motive when it was inaugurated; but
today, due to the continuing success of the
activity, that factor is now a possibility.
With its individual components of better
housing, better pay and benefits and im-
proved health and educational facilities,
the aim of the farm labor program is to
stabilize the once migratory labor force and
to raise the standard of living of the workers
to a parity with other Company employees,
Even though Mr. Austin called the pro-
gram "at the beginning of the beginning,"
he noted that with steady employment and
normal incentives, the individual produc-
tivity rate is going up. The cost to the
Company, he said, for equipment, supervisory
personnel, transportation and other support
requirements, have diminished surprisingly.
"This translates quickly into a more
profitable operation and a better return on
investment,"
PROHIBITION OF GEOPHYSICAL
EAPON OF WAR
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, as chairman
of the Subcommittee on Oceans and In-
ternational Environment, I have been
very much concerned over the unofficial
and unconfirmed reports that the United
States has attempted to modify weather
conditions in Southeast Asia as an in-
strument of warfare.
During the recent Senate recess, a
number of informative articles concern-
ing this subject appeared in the press.
Among these were articles writen by
Bruce De Silva, in the Providence Jour-
nal and Evening Bulletin; Seymour M.
Hersh and John Noble Wilford, in the
New York Times of July 3, 1972 ; and by
Victor CohnA100?8Md1#~@4S4
July 2, 1972.
These articles reinforce my belief that
we must move quickly to ban the use of
RECORD - SENATE S 11345 - '
all geophysical warfare. in an effort to
achieve this goal, I have scheduled hear-
ings on July 26 and 27, 1972, to receive
testimony on Senate Resolution 281
which I introduced earlier this year. This
resolution, which was cosponsored by
Senators BAYII, CASE, COOPER, CRANSTON,
HART, HUGHES, HUMPHREY, JAVITS, KEN-
NEDY, MCGOVERN, MONDALE, NELSON,
STEVENSON, TUNNEY, and WILLIAMS ex-
presses the sense of the Senate that the
United States should seek the agreement
of other governments to a proposed
treaty prohibiting the use of any en-
vironmental or geophysical modification
activity as a weapon of war, or the carry-
ing out of any research or experimenta-
tion with respect thereto.
I believe that the articles referred to
above will be of great interest to a num-
ber of Senators. I therefore ask unani-
mous consent that they be printed in the
RECORD.
There being no objection, the items
were ordered to be printed in the RECORD,
as follows:
RAINMAKING IS USED AS WEAPON BY U.S.-
CLOUD SEEDING IN INDOCHINA CONFIRMED-
CHEMICAL ALSO EMPLOYED To FOIL RADAR
(By Seymour M. Hersh)
WASHINGTON, July 2.-The United States
has been secretly seeding clouds over North
Vietnam, Laos and South Vietnam to in-
crease and control the rainfall for military
purposes.
Government sources, both civilian and
military, said during an extensive series of
interviews that the Air Force cloudseeding
program has been aimed most recently at
hindering movement of North Vietnamese
troops and equipment and suppressing
enemy antiaircraft missile fire.
The disclosure confirmed growing specula-.
tion in Congressional and scientific circles
about the use of weather modification in'
Southeast Asia. Despite years of experiments
with rainmaking in the United States and
elsewhere, scientists are not sure they un-
derstand its long-term effect on the ecology
of a region.
SOME OPPOSED PROGRAM
The weather manipulation in Indochina,
which was first tried in South Vietnam in
1963, is the first confirmed use of meteoro-
logical warfare. Although it is not prohibited
by any international conventions on warfare,
artificial rainmaking has been strenuously
opposed by some State Department officials.
It could not be determined whether the
operations were being conducted in connec-
tion with the current North Vietnamese of-
fensive or the renewed American bombing of
the North.
EFFECTIVENESS DOUBTED
Beginning in 1967, some State Department
officials protested that the United States, by
deliberately altering the natural rainfall in
parts of Indochina, was taking environ-
mental risks of unknown proportions. But
many advocates of the operation have found
little wrong with using weather modifica-
tion as a military weapon.
"What's worse," one official asked, "drop-
ping bombs or rain?"
All of the officials interviewed said that
the United States did not have the capabil.
ity to cause heavy flooding during the sunn-
ier in the northern parts of North Vietnam,
where serious flooding occurred last year.
Officially, the White House and State De-
partment declined comment on the use of
objectives--muddying roads and flooding
lines of communication, But there were also
many military and Government officials who
expressed doubt that the project had caused
any dramatic results.
The sources, without providing details, also
said that a method had been developed for`
treating clouds with a chemical that eventu-
ally produced an acidic rainfall capable of
fouling the operation of North Vietnamese
radar equipment used for directing surface-
to-air missiles,
In addition to hampering SAM missiles and
delaying North Vietnamese infiltration, the
rainmaking program had the following pur-
poses:
?Providing rain and cloud cover for in-
filtration of South Vietnamese commando
and intelligence teams into North Vietnam.
?Serving as a "spoiler" for North Viet-
namese attacks and raids in South Vietnam.
Mitering or tailoring the rain patterns
over North Vietnam and Laos to aid United
States bombing mission's. -
iDiverting North Vietnamese men and
material from military operations to keep
muddied roads and other lines of com-
munication in operation.
KEYED TO MONSOON
The cloud-seeding operations necessarily
were keyed to the two main monsoon seasons
that affect Laos and Vietnam, "It was just
trying to add on to something that you
already got," one officer said.
Military sources said that one main goal
was to increase the duration of the south-
west monsoon, which spawns high-rising
cumulus clouds-those most susceptible to
cloud seeding-over the panhandle areas of
Laos and North Vietnam from May to early
October. The longer rainy season thus would
give the Air Force more opportunity to trigger
rainstorms.
"We were trying to arrange the weather
pattern to suit our convenience," said one
former Government official who had detailed
knowledge of the operation.
,According to interviews, the Central In-
telligence Agency initiated the use of cloud-
seeding over Hue, in the northern part of
South Vietnam. "We first used that stuff in
about August of 1963," one former C.I.A.
agent said, "when the Diem regime was hav-
ing all that trouble with the Buddhists.".
"They would just stand around during
demonstrations when the police threw tear
gas at them, but we noticed that when the
rains came they wouldn't stay on," the former
agent said.
"The agency got an Air America Beech-
craft and had it rigged up with silver iodide,"
he said. "There was another demonstration
and we seeded the area. It rained."
A similar cloud-seeding was carried out
by C.I.A. aircraft In Saigon at least once dur-
ing the summer of 1964, the former agent
said.
EXPAND TO TRAIL
The Intelligence Agency expanded its
cloud-seeding activities to the Ho Chi Minh
supply trail in Laos sometime in the middle
nineteen-sixties, a number of Government
sources said. By 1967, the Air Force had be-
come involved although, as one former Gov-
ernment official said, "the agency was calling
all the shots."
"I always assumed the agency had a man-
date from the White House to do It," he
added.
A number of former CIA, and high-rank-
ing Johnson Administration officials depicted
the operations along the trail as experi-
mental.
The state of the art had not yet advanced
to the point where it was possible to predict
meteorological warfare. "This is one of those the results of a seeding operation with any
200210 r ng, o o~fiiciallsaicl. D "e~SR000li~~00~nce, one Government o11i-
cial said. "We used to go out flying around
Most officials interviewed agreed that the and looking for a certain cloud formation,"
seeding had accomplished one of its main the official said. "And we made a lot of mis=
 S11346
Approved For Release 2002/01/10: CIA-RDP74B00415R000100110006-9
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE July 20, 1972
takes. Once we dumped seven inches of rain
in two hours on one of our Special Forces
camps."
Despite the professed skepticism on the
part of some members of the Johnson Ad-'
ministration, military men apparently took
the weather modification program much
more seriously.
According to a document contained in the,
Pentagon papers, the Defense Department's
secret history of the war, weather modifica-
tion was one of seven basic options for
stepping up the war that were presented on
request by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the
White House in late February, 1967.
The document described the weather pro-
gram over Laos-officially known as Opera-
tion Pop-Eye-as an attempt "to reduce traf-
ficability along infiltration routes."
AUTHORIZATION NEEDED
nam, particularly in the north along the Laos is practiced, in food-deficit areas, and in
border. "We tried to use it in connection areas subject to flooding,"
with air and ground operations," a military ISSUE RAISED RECENTLY
officer explained.
One Government official explained more
explicitly that "if you were expecting a raid
from their side, you would try to control the
weather to make it more difficult." This offl-
cial estimated that more than half of the
actual cloud-seeding operations in 1969 and
1970 took place in South Vietnam.
Much of the basic research was provided
by Navy scientists, and the seeding opera-
tions were flown by the Air Weather Service
of the Air Force.
By 1967, or possibly earlier, the Air Force
flights were originating from a special opera-
tions group at Udorn air base in Thailand.
No more than four C-130's, and usually only
two, were assigned in the highly restricted
section of the base. Each plane was capable
of carrying out more than one mission on
one flight.
One former high-ranking official said in an
interview that by the end of 1971 the pro-
gram, which had been given at least three
different code names since the middle nine-
teen-sixties, was under the direct control of
the White House.
Interviews determined that many usually
well-informed members of the Nixon Admin-
istration had been kept in the dark.
In the last year, there have been repeated
inquiries and publicly posed questions by
members of Congress about the weather mod-
ification programs in Southeast Asia, but
f t' h s been rovided
- a
t
i
The issue has also been raised in recent
months by the National Academy of Sciences,
on the floor of the United States Senate and
at the international environmental meeting
at Stockholm last month.
Recognizing the many potential problems,
the national academy issued a statement last
year urging the Nixon Administration to
sponsor a United Nations resolution "dedi-
cating all weather modification efforts to
peaceful purposes and establishing, prefer-
ably within the framework of international
nongovernmental scientific organizations, an
advisory mechanism for consideration of
weather-modification problems of potential
international concern."
Senator Claiborne Pell, Democrat of Rhode
.Island, and 18 other Senators recently filed
a resolution calling on the United States to
join in a treaty outlawing "any use of any
environmental or geophysical modification
activity as a weapon of war, or the carrying
out of any research or experimentation with
respect thereto."
But, during the Stockholm conference, the
United States delegation was instrumental
in inserting a weakening clause in a recom-
mendation calling for all governments to
"carefully evaluate the likelihood and mag-
nitude of climactic effects" from weather
modification and to disseminate their find-
ings.
U.S. SPONSORS STUDY
It said that Presidential authorization was
"required to implement operational phase of
weather modification process previously suc-
cessfully tested and evaluated in same area."
The brief. summary concluded by stating
that "risk of compromise is minimal."
A similar option was cited in another 1967
working document published in the Penta-
gon papers. Neither attracted any immediate
public attention.
The Laos cloud-seeding operations did
provoke, however, a lengthy and bitter, al-
beit secret, dispute inside the Johnson Ad-
ministration in 1967. A team of State De-
partment attorneys and officials protested
that the use of cloud-seeding was a danger-
ous.precedent for the United States.
"I felt that the military and agency hadn't
analyzed it to determine if it was in our
interest," one official who was involved in the
dispute said, He also was concerned over the
rigid secrecy of the project, he said, "al-
though it might have been all right to keep
it secret if you did it once and didn't want
the precedent to become known."
The general feeling was summarized by
one former State Department official who
said he was concerned that the rainmaking
"might violate what we considered the gen-
eral rule of the thumb for an illegal weapon
of war-something that would cause unusual
suffering or dispropriate damage." There also
was concern, he added, because of the un-
known ecological risks.
A Nixon Administration official said that
he believed the first use of weather modi-
fication over North Vietnam took place in
late 1968 or early 1969 when rain was in-
creased in an attempt to hamper the abil-
ity of antiaircraft missiles to hit American
jets in the panhandle region near the Lao-
tian border.
Over the next two years, this official added,
"it seemed to get more important-the re-
ports were coming more frequently."
It could not be learned how many specific
missions were carried out. in any year.
One well-informed source said that Navy
scientists were responsible for developing a
new kind of chemical agent effective in the
warm stratus clouds that often shielded
many key antiaircraft sites in northern parts
of North Vietnam.
The chemical, he said, "produced a rain
that had an acidic quality to it and it would
foul up mechanical equipment-like radars,
trucks and tanks."
"This wasn't originally in our planning,"
the official added, "it was a refinement."
Apparently, many Air Force cloud-seeding
missions were conducted over North Viet-
nam and Laos simply to confuse or "attenu-
ate"-a word used by many military men-
the radar equipment that. controls antiair-
craft missiles. The planes used for such op-
p
n orma Io
no accura
e
to them by the Department of Defense. The weakening clause included the words,
"This kind of thing was a bomb, and Henry "to the maximum extent feasible." Officials
restricted information about it to those who later acknowledged that possible military
had to know," said one well-placed Govern- use of weather modification was the basis for
ment official, referring to Henry A. Kissinger, the amendment.
the President's adviser on national security. However, the Department of Defense's Ad-
Nonetheless, the official said, "I understand . vanced Research Projects Agency is sponsor-
it to be a spoiling action-that this was de- lug research to determine how much and
scriptive of what was going on north of the what kind of tinkering. with the atmosphere
DMZ with the roads and the SAM sites." is required to disturb the climate on a global
Another source said that most of the scale-an indication that the Pentagon is
weather modification activities eventually not sure of the ecological impact of weather
were conducted with the aid and support of warfare.
the South Vietnamese. "I think we were try- The Defense Department acknowledges
ing to teach the South Vietnamese how to that it conducted "precipitation augmenta-
fly the cloud-seeding missions," the source tion projects" in the Philippines in 1969, in
said. India in 1967, over Okinawa and the Mid
It was impossible to learn where the staff- islands in 1971 and in Texas last summer-
ing and research for the secret weather op- all at the request of the governments in-
eration were carried out. Sources at the Air volved.
Force Cambridge Research Laboratories at The results were mixed-success in the
Hanscomb Field in Bedford, Mass., and at Philippines and Texas, but not elsewhere..
the Air Weather Service headquarters, while Other tests over the years have failed to in-
.acknowledging that they had heard of the crease rainfall, or else failed to convince
secret operation, said they had no informa- meteorologists that the rains would not have
tion about its research center, fallen without human intervention.
One Government source did say that a But tests in Florida, in 1968 and 1970, led
group was "now evaluating the program to civilian Scientists to conclude that clouds
see how much additional rain was caused." seeded with silver iodide crystals rained more
,He would not elaborate. than three times as much as unseeded clouds.
The experiment, concluded by the National
SCIENTISTS ARE CRITICAL OF RAINMAKING IN . Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
WAR produced "explosive" growth of rain clouds.
(By John Noble Wilford) CONTROVERSY REMAINS
After years of rainmaking experiments- While conceding that "there's still quite
tion, scientists are still not sure they under- a bit of controversy over whether your seed-
stand the short-term effects of cloud-seeding, ing caused rain or not," Ferguson Hall of the
much less the possible long-term impact on agency's Office of Environmental Modifica-
the ecology of a region or the entire world. tion said yesterday in a telephone interview
This uncertainty has led to increasing con- from his Rockville, Md., office: "We seem to
cern among scientists over the use of weather be on the verge of having convinced ourselves
modification as an instrument of warfare. rainmaking will work in certain cases."
Dr. Matthew Meselson, professor of biology Rainmaking research primarily involves
at Harvard University, was quoted in the experiments in seeding clouds with silver
June 16 issue of the magazine Science as iodide, dry ice, common salt and other Chem-
saying: icals that can act as condensation nuclei. The
"It is obvious that weather modification Federal Government is spending about $20
'used as a weapon of war has the potential million annually on weather-modification re-
erations, C-130's, must fly at relatively slow for causing large-scale and quite possibly search.
speeds and at altitudes no greater than 22,- uncontrollable and unpredictable destruc- There are two types of clouds, warm and
000 feet to dispkp tmveigtrftinRle'p%et2GO2Mt 'O greater QO4 R0 4o1 t ~ caws by which seed-
cals effectively. well have a far reater. impact on e v l1ans n e i gger rainfall.
A number of officials confirmed that cloud than on combatants; This would be especially In 1946, the first American experiments
seeding had been widely used in South Viet- . true in areas where subsistence agriculture in cloud seeding, by- Vincent J. Schaefer of
 Approved For Release 2002/01/10 : CIA-RDP74B00415R000100110006-9
July 20, 1972 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD ---SENATE S 11347
the General Electric Research Laboratory in believe it is important for nations to agree two long-range California programs--one
Schenectady, were aimed at Supercooled not to wage weather war-"before," as he over the Pacific off Santa Barabara, an at-
clouds, From an airplane, Mr. Schaefer put it, "it becomes a reality." tempt to increase rainfall over a national
dropped three pounds of dry ice (frozen Son,.Claiborne Pell (D-R,h) Is prominent forest; the other over the Central Sierras to
carbon dioxide) into clouds to create billions among members of Congress who believe it try to increase the snow-pack for electric
of glistening Ice crystals, has become a reality. "There is very little utilities that depend on water power.
MOISTURE To IcE doubt in my mind," he says. Rep. Gilbert Air Force weather modifying is done by
Dry ice -or silver iodide, which is more Gudo (R-Md,) states: "There's no doubt in Air Weather Service, working out of Scott
commonly used silver iodide, which in. the my mind that it's going on in Vietnam." Field, East St. Louis, Ill., with participation today clou to ice crystals that grow turger. and ,I think there's no doubt rain-making was by the Environmental Technology Applica-
larger until
larger utare heavy rough- to fail used in Laos on the trail," says a Senate tions Center at Suitland, Md, Operations
rain they snow. committee aide well versed in defense af- over Indochina are flown out of Udorn Air
Siithe iodide it snow. tly used as the seed- fairs, "And I think there's little doubt that it Force Base, Thailand, says a Senate source.
ing agent because its crystals are similar to has been used fairly recently; that is, in "None of the weather research work in the
those of ice and it is more effective in causing 1971," entire, DOD is classified," Saint-Amand
supercooled water drops to freeze. Such use, in 1971 or otherwise, may have addsthe word research should be noted
In warm clouds, salt or silver iodide pasti- . been only sporadic, several sources believe, here. "Our labs are open to anyone who wants
moisture to
cles can cause uds salt or sily a o irate water "Otherwise," said one, "a lot more people to come and see what we're doing." Chief
droplets large enough to fall as rain. This would have known about it long ago." Scientist John N. Howard of the Air Force's
would be the type of experiments that could It is a "successful" pre-1967 use, Sometime Cambridge Research Laboratories at Bedford.
be effective In tropical or semitropical areas, in the years of Vietnam escalation, possibly Mass., made a similar statement. The Defense
such effective ive tro Ain 1966, that is documented in the "Senator Department's Advanced Research Projects
The type Southeast Asia. s agent that could cause Gravel" edition of the Pentagon Papers. In Agency (ARPA) likewise reports conducting
a highly acidic of seeding agent
as reported South- late February, 1967, this document discloses only classified research,
east Asia, has not reort, S outh- the Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared a list of An ARPA study called Nile Blue has been
eare has n loathe t been discuss disclosed,
scientists
the d, ibilian "alternative strategies" for President John- cited by some of the military's accusers as
eat to Hee that the method has anode- son' prime evidence of nefarious DOD rainmaking,
hygroscoe
sething, One, titled "Laos Operations," read: Actually, Nile Blue Is a study by computer
Most loud-seeding operations are con- "Continue as at present plus Operation of how purposeful or accidental man-made
ducted by airplane-the 0-130 in Vietnam, Pop Eye to reduce tratllcability along hnfil- changes might affect the globe's year-to-year
But small rockets can also be used to deliver tration routes . . , Authorization required climate rather than the day-to-day condi-
the seeding agent, to implement operational phase of weather tions called weather.
viodiffcation process previously successfully Nile Blue has been funded this year at
WEATHER WAR: A GATHERING STORM
tested and evaluated in same area," (Italics $2.6 million but will rise to $3.1 million in
added.) fiscal year 1973, with use of a new super-
(By Victor Cohn) In 1967-according to columnist Jack An- computer, I111ac IV, designed at the Univer-
Technological America, that accomplished derson, who published the first allegation sity of Illinois and now being installed at
laser-radar-electronic warrior, has been of Indochina rain-making-U.S. forces Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
larning to use still another remote-control. started secret Project Intermediary. Compa- Defending the project, ARPA Director
weapon: bontrol of the weather for military triot "to hamper enemy logistics , . . (with) Stephen J. Lukasik told the Senate Appro-
purposes. claimed success in creating man-made priations Committee in March: "Since it now
Indochina-by the evidence of a long- cloudbursts . . . (and) flooding conditions" appears highly probable that major world
ignored passage in the Pentagon Papers--- along the Ho Chi Minh trails, "making them powers have the ability to create modlfica-
has been a test battleground, the site of impassable."
purposeful rain-making. along the Ho Chi " tions climate that might se deter
Minh trails. Some accusers, going further, cinsslFlEn" wonx mental to the security of this c couuntr ntry, Nile
hold American rain-makers responsible for Sen. Pell, most persistently, and Rep, Blue . . . was established in FY 70 to achieve
the flood disasters that struck North Viet- Gude and Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), a U.S. capability to aluate all con-
the last year. on behalf of Members of Congress for Peace (2) deces of ea nds variety of of possible actions . ,
nain How much there is pa hard kernel of Through Law, have showered the Pentagon h he fore trends changes he global c etermine
truth behind tall here past increasingly kernel o with inquiries since Anderson published his which foretell means to co , ,tend (3) determine
ors accusations is unclear, hYet as the very charges in March, 1971. Defense Secretary t possible, climatic changes
ounter potentially dele-seri- e"Wh climatic ch
possibility that there has been serious Melvin Laird and Director of Defense Re-weather war-as at well as the emerging sous search and Engineering John Foster have "Wing tow muchs," Lukasik
have ox tickle he
that the Pentagon has been systematically ing repeatedly replied (to quote Laird) : "Some atmosphere osphow much you have t a climate.
he
aspects of our work in this area have a to perturb the earth's cldeveloping a rain-making capability-is d
fi
it
._. r
e
n
e relat
ie
who warn
of -
In
future "geophysical warfare" April, Senate Foreign Relations Com- How might such changes be made by one
wars Waged by adjusting, changing, modify- mittee Chairman J. William Fulbright (D- country desiring to harm another?
ing and ultimately despoiling the air, water Ark.), pressed further, asking Laird: "Why The highly respected Dr. MacDonald, who
and earth, do you decline to discuss weather control will leave the White House soon to teach at
They also include a growing number of activities in North Vietnam, yet you freely Dartmouth; wrote a 1968 warning against
weather-modifiers, scientists interested in the discuss B-62 flights over Vietnam?" Laird geophysical warfare, titled "How to Wreck
the peaceful users
the peaceful users of seeding clouds, modify replied blandly, "We have never engaged the Environment." On weather war in Indo-
or feeding preventing clouds, to lily- in that type of activity over North Vietnam," china, he now says only, "I wouldn't know
Ing hu ica everyone else. Fulbright failed to go on to ask Laird about that." But melting the Arctic cap by
OPERATION POP EYE a
kill, bout Laos or Cambodia or the Gulf of Ton- some means, lie conjectured in 1908, might
where Vietnam term "seeding" simply means making "He just didn't follow p on a
that question," equatorial tcountry cIn a la-locked
ould iflood the word s
the proper clouds yield, rain, or destructive one of his staff explains, "He was trying to coastal cities while insuring itself a temperate
force, by bombarding theft with silver iodide cover a whole range of things," climate with abundant rainfall.
particles. The particles act as condensation The Defense Department freely reports that "As economic competition among many
nuclei around which moisture can form. It has "field capabilities" for making rain. It advanced nations heightens," he warned, "it
The would-be cloud engineers want to de- used them in the Philippines in 1969, In a may be to a country's advantage to ensure
velop such programs through International six-month "precipitation augmentation proj- a peaceful natural environment for itself and
cooperation, because both weather and ect" at the Philippines request: in India in a disturbed environment for its competitors.
weather modification ignore borders. 1967, a a similar invitation; over Okinawa Operations . might be carried out cov-
Weather modification, these men believe, and Midway Islands, and in June, July and ertly . The years of drought and storm
is on the verge of huge advances, and needs August, 1971, over drought-stricken Texas, would be attributed to unkindly nature and
only a period of concentrated research, in a at the urgent request of Gov. Preston Smith, only after a nation were thoroughly drained
framework of interstate and international Pierre Saint-Amand, head of earth and would an armed takeover be attempted,"
rules, planetary sciences for the Naval Ordnance Far-fetched? Short-term rain-makin
But "if it turns out that the U.S. has mili- Laboratory at China Lake, Calif., led the which MacDonald in 1968 called only a "fu-
taristic uses for weather modification," one Philippine Project, which that government tore" military possibility-already seems an
weather scientist maintains, "international considered highly successful, The India and easier, if capricious, weapon.
weather programs would drop dead." Midway tries failed for lack of suitable
A prominent White House a ig~31lltist r ciou~@ ut, ]~ "When the ro er meteorological condi-
Gordon J. F. MacDo i~lAir (ea$rE3ys ~ ~A( I~~ .RtW a15 W4~1t ?6w9en clouds capable of
ter of the Pores-man Council on Saint-Amand's view. producing natural rain exist)," Laird told
beta of the President's re Sen. Pell in a November letter, "it Is a rela-
Quality, is among those who Navy rain-makers are currently involved in tively simple matter to increase the amount
 Approved For Release 2002/01/10 : CIA-RDP74B00415R000100110006-9
S11348 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE July 20, 1972
of rain which will fall. The amount of In. tional arms race." "The use of rain-making as
crease is frequently of the order of 30 to 50 a weapon of war can only lead to the develop-
per cent." ' ment of vastly more dangerous environ-
Laird carefully added: "Massive downpours mental techniques," he says. "We must move
have not been produced, and theoretical quickly to place weather, climate and geo-
knowledge at hand indicates that this will physical modification off limits."
probably always be the case." This, if oblique, Joined by 13 colleagues (McGovern,
seemed to quarrel with the allegations that Humphrey, Case, Cooper, Cranston, Hart,
the 1971 North Vietnam floods have been pro- Hughes, Javits, Kennedy, Mondale, Nelson,
duced by the Pentagon. Pell, however, main- Tunney and Williams), he has proposed a
tains that U.S. cloud-seeding produced the Senate resolution urging that the United
floods, which he says killed thousands. States seek a treaty to bar both weather war
"IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE" and research into it. As chairman of the
n e
i t
-
itt
Robert M. White, the nation's chief weather
man as director of the Commerce Depart-,
ment's National Oceanographic and Atmos-
pheric Administration (NOAA), declined to
discuss military matters in an interview. But
to the question, "Could cloud seeding cause
flooding?" he-unlike Laird-said, "Yes, it is
entirely possible to get heavy rains out of
certain clouds."
"In the past decade," White added, "there.
has been a considerable change of view in
the scientific community on weather modi-
fication. I think most knowledgeable people
would agree that we have. primitive capa-
bilities for modifying certain weather pat-
terns. And it is reasonable now to look to
possible development of more sophisticated
ones."
Among patterns that can "predictably" be
modified, he said, are: cold fog (which can.
be cleared from airfields); cumulus clouds
(most common in the tropics-"In Florida,"
White said, "we have been able almost at
will to make them grow explosively") ; oro-
graphic clouds (moist air moving up over
mountains-"At the right temperature you
can begin thinking of milking them for
water") and hailstorms (which can often
be suppressed, according to recent claims by
the Russians, who fire silver iodide into
them from rockets and artillery).
Beyond these, there are storms like hurri-
canes-as Hurricane Agnes, for example-
which cannot yet be reliably suppressed,
"but for which we have some encouraging
results," in White's view.
All in all, he sums up, "We're beginning
to move from a situation where everything
that happens in the atmosphere is an act
of God to where some things are an act of
man."
THE MORAL ISSUE
What perturbs many scientists is the mor-
ality of using such "acts of man" for mili-
tary purposes.
The Navy's Saint-Amand emphatically
does not see turning weather into a weapon
as something inherently evil. "If you estimate
the amount of damage done by impeding
someone's transportation versus blowing or
burning them up, I don't think it Is so im-
moral, " he told Science magazine.
Most scientists, left-wing and establish-
ment, seem to disagree.
The Science for Vietnam, Chicago Collec-
tive-a radical anti-war group of scientists
and students who first spotted the passage in
the Pentagon Papers-charges: "The U.S. gov-
ernment has embarked on a totally new and
insidious form of warfare . (that) could
disrupt the economy and social structure of a
small country; it could create famine . . .
University of Connecticut Graduate Dean
Thomas Malone, chairman of the National
Academy of Sciences' Weather Modification
Panel, likewise says: ".I'm opposed to it." He
urges a treaty that would not merely ban
weather war but go on to encourage interna-
tional weather modifications "in a positive
way." A 1971 Academy study urged the United
States to sponsor a United Nations resolution
dedicating all weather modifying to peace.
r
ees
Senate Foreign Relations Comm
national environment subcommittee, Pell
will try to smoke Laird out further at up-
coining hearings, perhaps this month.
LACK OF RESPONSE
The administration, too, may be consider-
ing the subject. But how seriously it is doing
so is unsure.
The Pentagon's Foster told Gude that the
National Security Council Under Secretaries'
Committee "at the request of Dr. Kissinger
is currently meeting to formulate a definitive
national policy. Presumably this policy, when
completed, will be announced to the nation
in some appropriate fashion."
The NSC unit involved is headed by
Herman Pollock, the State Department's
director of international scientific affairs.
He reports that it has considered only peace-
ful weather-making, not military.
Pell is undiscouraged by lack of adminis-
tration response so far to the pleas that it
support his proposed treaty, or that the
President declare that the United States will
never be first to wage weather war.
"I remember what happened five years ago
when I first introduced a draft treaty to
ban nuclear weapons from the seabed," he
says. "I got rather unreal executive branch
comment, just as we're getting now. But I
knew very well that a strip of missiles along
the Atlantic ridge and 'creepy crawlers'-
tank-like underwater missile carriers-were
on the drawing. board at the Pentagon.
"I see the same process now. I think that
given a few years, we'll get some sort of
treaty here, too."
Of all fields of science, Dean Malone has
said, none has produced more world coopera-
tion than meteorology. "What, a tragic re-
versal it would be if we started using our
knowledge to beat one another over the
head."
PELL FEELS U.S. WAGES WEATHER
WARFARE
(By Bruce DeSilva)
WASHINGTON,-The Pentagon has the pow-
er to change the weather and already may
have used that power to kill and destroy in
Southeast Asia.
"I strongly believe clouds have been
seeded in Southeast Asia for military rea-
sons. There is very little doubt in my mind,"
Sen. Clairborne Pell said during an interview
in his Washington office last week.
David Kearney, a member of the profes-
sional staff of the Senate foreign relations
committee, is less cautious. "I have no doubt
at all," he said.
Senator Pell said he believes the military
has been seeding clouds, perhaps beginning
as early as 1966, to clear them away from
bombing targets in North Vietnam. lie said
he also believes seeding with other chemicals
has produced torrential rains. The rains have
washed-out portions of the He Chi Minh
Trail impeding the infiltration of supplies
and men from North to South. Vietnam and
caused floods which killed thousands, he said.
Defense Department spokesmen had ad-
mitted that they have the capability to dras-
firm, but carefully avoided denying, that such
activities are under way in Southeast Asia.
Beginning in June of last year and lasting
well into the normally dry season in the fall,
North Vietnam was devastated by heavy rains,
typhoons and floods.
According to reports by Pierre Darcourt, a
French journalist, the heavy rains triggered
mud slides, washed away or weakened roads
and breached dikes.
The Associated Press reported that flooding
destroyed 10 per cent of the country's rice
crop and killed thousands.
North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van
Dong, the Christian Science Monitor reported,
said water levels in the entire Red River and
Thai Binh River system rose to "unprece-
dented levels." He called the flooding the
"worst disaster since the beginning of the
war."
An act of God? Perhaps.
But Senator Pell said he believes the dis-
aster was merely the most successful of Pen-
tagon rainmaking efforts in the region.
The best evidence that the Pentagon is
altering the weather is provided in brief re-
marks in the Pentagon Papers. The signifi-
cance of th remarks apparently went largely
unnoticed during the furor of other sensa-
tional disclosures in the documents.
According to the Gravel edition of the
papers, Volume 4, Page 421, the Joint Chiefs
of Staff presented President Lyndon B. John-
son with a memo in 1967 suggesting that
modifying the weather in the region might
be one way of widening the war without
creating dissent at home.
The memo stated In part:
"Laos Operations-Continue as at present
plus Operation Pop Eye to reduce trafficability
along infiltration routes. Authority/ Policy
Changes-Authorization required to imple-
ment operational phase of weather modifica-
tion process previously successful tested and
evaluated in some areas."
Later that year, the President was pre-
sented with a list of escalation proposals, the
Papers indicate. The list included the follow-
ing item:
"Cause interdicting rains in or near Laos."
Other evidence concerning the rainmaking
efforts are circumstantial.
In March of last year, Jack Anderson, a
nationally syndicated columnist, claimed in
his column that the Air Force has been seed-
ing clouds over Laos and Cambodia since
1967. He said the project went by the code
name of "Intermediary-Compatriot."
Unlike other Anderson columns, such as
the one on the ITT memo or the disclosure of
a secret U.S. posture during the India-Paki-
stan war, this column went largely unnoticed
nationally.
Last Sept. 23, Senator Pell sent a letter to
Rady Johnson, assistant secretary of de-
Tense for legislative affairs, inquiring about
"the Air Force weather modification activities
against the North Vietnamese."
The letter, and all subsquent communica-
tion, was made public by the senator and was
inserted in the Jan. 26 Congressional Record,
The letter asked the following questions:
"1. What are the objectives of the proj-
ect known by the code name 'Intermediary-
Compatriot'?
"2. How long has this project been in ex-
istence? Would you provide a rather detailed
description of this project?
"3. In what specific countries is this proj-
ect conducted?
"4. What amounts have been spent on this
project over the last three years?
"6. Is the Department conducting any
similar offense-oriented weather modifica-
tion programs? If so, what are the naives of
these projects and where are they being
V111CPP 11D.blUlY] uv ,.also, arawavsav dv...,.,..?'..?.+'., ,,iVtyyly 1LL,:a Ot490 swa .+.+l ,?- .. ??--?--r we will face ~1Ai~ i~i Q~~fJi ter conducted?"
putting the gMhc`i?ih5te 2"t ter ti~`l eiQOO,100110006m'HER LETTER
Pell argues that present military activities committee hearing with Sen. J. William Ful- The following day, Mr. Johnson replied,
"Could very well lead to another interns- bright of Arkansas, they have refused to con- saying the questions had been referred to
 Approved For Release 2002/01/10 : CIA-RDP74B00415R000100110006-9
July 20, 1972 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE S 11349
t o lesl t - if Pentagon call rain, I, It also
the director of defense research and engi- cuss the impossible
neeei - trying to develop ways to divert typhoons
matter even if they want to. dis
er waiting for a response for two woeka, Senator Pell said he has been offered a to the shores of other nations or cause earth-
After
Withoute senator wondered,
abillity to ask quakes?
it classified it woud limit declined
son, treaty banning such activities,
Senator l sent another letter Mr. John-
soagain again asking for a a reply ly to Defense Department officials probing ques- an inland nation could melt the antarctic
sily ing
questions. can
On Nov. 23, Mr. Johnson sent the senator htio about the earings and prject at out sot( oniitxa cordingato scientists)sand riaise
The a lengthy reply. the level of the sea by 300 feet, lie said.
Treply stated in peat that "the poson on the subject. LARGELY UNNOTICED Senator Pell referred to an article by Gor-
techniques inherent p weather modiflcatio When Mr. Laird appeared before the for- don J. F. McDonald, a member of the Coun-
echniques the support prt military operations for morsign relations committee in April to testify cif for Environmental Quality in the Nixon
than been the subject to Po more administration, which was printed in 1963
than 20 years. For a number er of of these years, concerning renewed bombing of the North, in a book titled "Unless Peace Comes."
the Department of Defense has been con- Senator Poll and Senator Fulbright ques- I the article, "Unless said weather
ducting several modest research and devel- tioned him briefly on weather modification. and climate le Mr. McDonald
"might be carried modific opment programs relating to various forms The exchange went largely unnoticed in the out covertly since at ion
great iereguried
of weather
the l xter, M .Johnson " press. Pell asked Mr. Laird if the United ity permits storms, flooding, earthquakes,
In the letter, M sfored that rp and tidal waves to be viewed as unusual but
search has been u. undenrt take en for "the sup- States had engaged in rainmaking activities not unexpected,"
pression of hail and lightning (to reduce "for military reasons in Southeast Asia." ' "OR EVEN xcoREA"
damage to military property and equipment Mr. Laird replied, "I don't discuss the op-
and to increase safety of operations) and the crating authority that we go forward with as "Such a secret war will never be declared
dissipation of fog at airports and within far as Southeast Asia specifically, but I would or ever known by the affected population. It
harbors (to enhance operations of safety Of, be glad to discuss with you the techniques could go on for years with only the security
aircraft and ships.) " that have been used outside the battle zone." forces involved, being aware of it," the article
"RELATIVELY SIMPLE" Senator Fulbright asked, "Why do you de- stated.
The letter added that "One example of cline to discuss weather control activities in "These are the kinds of weapons I don't
fruitful field research has been the investi- North Vietnam, yet you freely discuss B-52 want to see developed," Senator Pell said,
gation of precipitation augmentation. flights over North Vietnam?', adding that the Soviet Union is doing re-
When the proper meteorological conditions After a brief exchange between Mr. Laird search on weather and climate modifications,
prevail (that is, when clouds capable of pro- and Senator Fulbright, Mr. Laird said: Senator Pell said he plans hearings on
ducing natural rain exist) it is a relatively "We have never engaged in that type of his resolution and treaty late next month or
simple matter to increase the amount of rain activity over North Vietnam." in August.
which will fall. The amount of increase is Senator Poll said last week that Mr. Laird He said he expects to have "some exciting
frequently of the order of 30 to 50 per cent." carefully limited his response to "activity witnesses" for the hearings and hopes the
Mr. Kearney laid some scientists have told over North Vietnam." it would be expected hearings will "flush out" the truth concern-
him the increase could actually be ten or 20 that clouds would be seeded over Laos or ing Pentagon weather modification activities.
Cambodia or over the Tonkin Gulf, depend-
times than the mon he notedn a 50 per cent in on the time of year, rather than over
Asia ca have a tremendous erains of Southeast North Vietnam, Senator Pell added. POLITICAL SPYING
Asia can have letter that The senator said the Defense Department
Mr. Johnson's noted that in 1969, has been "extremely sensitive" to question- Mr. GOLDWATER. Mr. President, the
the e Department o of f D Defense; at the request, Ing about weather modification and that in- whole subject of political spying is one
o ra the ainmakine prong projjec, ecto on t thhndeeed a Philip p siine Is Ise i- formation about it has been difficult to get. that has intrigued me for some time. As
Such an operation is easy to keep secret, a matter of fact, the whole pursuit has
lands to relieve a drought. "The Philippine because three men in a small plane are all ? struck me as an exercise in futility from
successful that they have they have the subsequently taken that is needed to carry it out. Large numbers
of men need not be involved, the senator said. the first time it was ever brought to my
attention.
steps h l to acquire an independent capability," Senator Pell said one indication that the attention. recent weeks, we have heard a great
the letter added. Pentagon is involved in weather modification
"I trust," the letter closed, "that the fore. over Vietnam Is the United States' decision amount of inflated rhetoric about an
going information will be helpful to you and to torpedo a resolution on weather modifica- alleged attempt to bug the telephones
regret the delay in responding to your in. tion at the United Nations Environmental for an eavesdropping operation aimed at
quirt'." Conference in Stockholm earlier this month. the Democratic National Committee
QUESTIONS UNANSWERED A resolution on the question required that headquarters in Washington, D.C. Quite
But the l lettetter r did did not answer a single one before taking any action that might have an naturally the suspected culprits in this
of Senator Pell's questions. effect on the climate, a government should caper were-you au guessed this
Senator Pell sent a letter to Defense Secre- evaluate the change that could occur and fascinating ng ca Capp r e-yu guess, the
tary Melvin Laird on Dec. 3 stating his dig- disseminate its findings.
satisfaction with Mr.-Johnson's letter and "IT GIVES THEM AN OUT" Democratic Committee has brought a $1
requesting "a written response to the spe- The United States succeeded in amending million suit against o icials of the GOP
ciflc queairdnre the agreement to say that information will be because of some alleged connection be-Mr. ste Laird referred the letter
research John and d disseminated "to the maximum extent fea- tween the caperees and the campaign to
reply y to o Sen- sible. relect President Nixon.
eterwho sent who s ea written defense
engineering,
soot Pell on Dec. 16. "It gives them an out. They can say that Mr. President, needless to say it
"Certain aspects of our work in this area dissemination is not feasible for security brought back interesting memories to a
are classified," Mr. Foster's letter said. "Rec- reasons," Senator Poll said. man who was once his party's presi-
ognizing that the Congress is concerned with Fearful that the Pentagon's tinkering with dential candidate and had the experi-
the question of the military application of natural phenomenon may not be limited to ence of having his campaign train
weather modification technology, I have, at making rain, Senator Pell has prepared a rded by a pretty 23-year'-Old Demo-
that direction of Secretary Laird, seen to it draft of a treaty that would ban all weather b boaoardd spy who ettyd 3- a reporter but
that the chairmen of the committees of Con- and climate modificatalon activities as weap-
gress with primary responsibility for this de- oils of war, who actually worked for the Democratic
partment's operations have been completely on March 17, he introduced a resolution National Committee.
informed regarding the details of all classi- in the Senate stating that it is "the sense of I might have forgotten this interest-
fled weather modification undertakings by the Senate" that such a treaty be negotiated. ing bit of cloak-and-dagger work in my
the department. Among its 14 sponsors are Senators Edward own campaign had it not been for an
"RESPECTFULLY DECLINE" M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, George Mc- amusing and informative and well writ-
"However, since the information to which Govern of South Dakota and Hubert H. Hum- ten editorial in the e ARepublic of
phrey, Minnesota. June 24, entitled Arizona riz stern at Work."
a I refer has d is classified as aces It mind it "When I proposed the seabed treaty (ban-a necessary .and is
pectf ll de l n to I find a any ping nuclear arms from the ocean floors), a The Republic notes that when the Dem-
res oy he dot t make any string of ABM's along the Atlantic Ridge ocrats were caught at the game of spy-
further s o respectfully
activities disclosures of te.detais oP these and creepy crawlers (tank-like weapons that ing, the press reacted with light feature
activities at this time: " awould crawl along the ocean floor) were. on stories which compared the Democratic
Senator Pell l said he understood the letter the drawing board at the Pentagon," Sen- ploy with the exploits of James Bond.. It
and mean that dw ~x"Ilsx ' ease 2/01./10: CIA-RDP7~}B00415ROA~'F10 1a1~(9~0b~ omment:
men of t But now that the Democratic campaign
and Rep. the Senate r and House a. armed h services 'CAN LEAD TO DISASTER
committees, had been briefed on the matter. Weather modification is also "a weapon sanctuary has supposedly been breached by
The briefings were confidential and make that can lead to disaster," he said. GOP funotionaries=one of them a former