LETTER TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH FROM CLAIBORNE PELL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 4, 2005
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: July 21, 1976
• Content Type: LETTER

M SPARK m3rW-M.Mr.ReJease 2005/02/10: CIA-RDP78M02660R0003000b0 I"- 'e PP3fs
MIKE MANSFIELD. MONT
FRANK CHURCH, IDAHO JACOB K. JAVITS, N.Y. ( T J~ iR Y' / ~~/S
STUART SYMINGTON, MO. HUGH SCOTT
PA
,
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CLAIBORNE PELL, R.I. JAMES B. PEARSON, KANS.
GALE W. MC GEF_, WYO. CHARLES H. PERCY. ILL. y~(}n (~~j GEORGE GEORGE MC GOVERN, S. DAK. ROBERT P. GRIFFIN. MICH. Cb h~
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HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, MINN. / j (~~ `~
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DICK CLARK. IOWA O L G 76 , {Y J yJ J
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., DEL. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS r~yy
PAT M. HOLT, CHIEF OF STAFF WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
ARTHUR M. KUHL. CHIEF CLERK
July 21, 1976
The Honorable George Bush
Director, Central Intelligence
Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceans and International
Environment of the Committee on Foreign Relations, I have been
particularly concerned about the unconfirmed reports concerning
the covert use of weather modification techniques designed to
cause droughts or severe rainstorms to damage crops of nations
considered hostile to U.S. interests (see enclosed article from
the Providence Journal). I would appreciate the Agency providing
me with answers to the following questions:
(1) During the period of 1968 to 1972, did the CIA conduct,
finance or encourage other groups, in any way, to seed the wind
currents and clouds off the coast of Cuba (or any other nation)
to cause them to drop rain before they passed over that country?
(2) Did the CIA during the period of 1968 to 1972 seed the
wind currents and clouds passing over Cuba (or any other nation)
to cause severe storms or flooding that would impede the harvest
activities within that nation
Sincerely,
Claiborne Pell
Chairman, Subcommittee on
Oceans and International
Environment
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al _6
the,
over Cuba in--.M69:,and 1970 ; in order to' ,,.
w ni,,N%j urr - {ne veiense uepart-- to,suipport his..charges: Nor does' lie claim '
ment- denied_ charges vesterday that the to have been personally involved in the-
fall into the ocean before eve.r reaching'
Cuba.-
Ponce said he does not "K-now whether
area of Cuba after'1970.
Technology ..Corp. of Washington. P.C., ,
said the CIA and the Pentagon cooperated
in a'program to teed'clouds near Cuba so
they would drop their rain,before reaching
the island, ..thus-.. causing a. damaging
searcher with the International Research &
former Defense Department consultant,.
Lowell Pont:'*. 'e:
modification. around Cuba," the Pentagon
the past. That-one was over the Ho Chi
Minh Trail in: Vietnam, he said, and _was
made public in 1974.
.-The spokesman said. the only current
weather change program being conducted
spokesman said:. ' - . ..
He added that there-has only been one
classified weather modification program in
airports
i".. The r CIA . o ulsd i _ ~:.:,:` :: r .S ? is :
not. be reached- for. -
comment
Ponte said the CIA embarked on a major
cloud-seeding program -over Cuba after
Cuban Premier Fidel Castro staked his
honor in 1970 to producing a record
. 0-million meiric -ton harvest of' sugar
cane..
He said that =the "1970- Cuban sugar
harvest felt 'two million metric tons short
of Castro's goal. But Ponte added that there
is "no_ way to say definitely" 'tt;e CIA's
cloud seeding caused the harvest shortfall.'
He said the CIA decided to seed wind
currents about 200 miles from Cuba "to get
clouds heading towards Cuba to drop their
_ -He -says his'. information was::.
obta ned from .1coa versa tiori , with two;
think-tank people and , one foreign intelli '
on the seeding project:
rain early before they reached Cuba".hle'
said the seeding was done with silver-
iodide, but '=that it, would have,.'been
impossible to detect because the r ain-u?ould
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`said of the charge made ? Saturday by a
 t'=MORAMUM FOR: Approve F(r F fll se 2005/02/1
I am sorry it has taken so long to get back to you
re your attached question of 7 July, but we have now
checked all appropriate files and the institutional
memory of various personnel in DDS&T/ORD and
OTS, as well as DDO/LA Division, and I am assured
that we have never been involved in any operations
directed to weather modifications over Cuba. There
is an old feasibility study done by the DDS&T re the
possibilities, but the project was abandoned.
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 nzacuttve ?. 1.MT F
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C.I.A.: Fidel Castro's Helpers
'!tor
To t`te
One cf the favorite arguments of the
Latin .Am?ricsn lei' is that the dews -
opment of the Souther:: I:emiczphere is
impossible because of stif;:t:"
incubus of North American power.
An Ecuadorean politician once ob-
served, quite confidentially, that .^e
gringos controlled everything in his
country, even the traffic lights. In
e
"One Hundred Years of Solitude," c:r:._
most widely read novel in Latin ymri-
ca, Gabr:el Garcia Marcus ail^g_s
that the Americans control the
era What aucocity! W0 a tray
this cr2ii`nsmlo and nara::o:a ...._
afflict Latin Arn.ica's -=1_-cev_C.Y.d
in tcl!rctuals!
But wait:- C.I.A. to ti-. rescue. T?
weekend, as President Ford was le_-
turilg Fidel Castro against
interventionism, a former
Cepnrtmeny - researcher revealed ti:
the UnitedS;utes his R??_ri .vag;. a
secret we;.clie: war against Cub' try
ing to top pie the Castro re; ime by
artificially s_Lynulatin g a drought in
order to wreck the-isLz,1t's ag'ia I -I
tural economy.
Fortunately, this weather war like
co many of the agenc;'s brilliant and
well-publicized ploys against Cubs,
was apparently a com?'_e-te failure.
Indeed, one wonders w i.ei.her .he
agency and the supporters of cia::-
fA
destine operations in the White House .
and the Congress have managed to
achieve precis_:y the obverse of that
in; nded. By c eat ng a constant aura
threats to Cu^ :.'s security, the U.S.
provided Cast o with the environ-
necessary for the rationalization
of his police state. The agency may
;:ell be the best friend Castro ever
'find.
suspects that the greatest im
of the awn-'Y's dirt. tricks has
b en :elt, riot abroad, but rather:vith!n
the l5iiited States. Each new revelation
of the agency's derrin; do is a new
of an America
honor: a .ountty capable of
shabh:,st kind of behavior. The
,its have
i?~.i:~ 4. run
:t:53:.3 of h
__..u_'.{. They are fc-ce-::~ og a new,
a-d isolationist ge :ration of young
Americans, a generation stopped in
c?: nicism and disulusioament about
c.ar actiVities overseas.
Of course, tb~ra are some sentinels
c1 iibc ty who have warned against
l.
L .
^::c,es which cause the sapping of the
c* :hem. But then, was he not also,
director of the Nat.nn31 Security
Council when the weather war was
l ^aaunched against Cuba'?
.ALFRED L. PAVtULA Sr.
Ass. Prof., Dept. of History
University of Maine
Portlz _:td, Me., June 29, 1976
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A ecu ive ecretary
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OLC 76-2100
2 8 July 19 76
MEMORANDUM FOR: DD/S&T
DDO (Attn:
FROM:
EO/DDO)
Assistant Legislative Counsel
SUBJECT: Request from Senator Claiborne Pell
1. Attached is a letter from Senator Claiborne Pell requesting
information on any CIA activities with respect to weather modifications
from the period 1968-72. Would you please review your records to
determine whether any of the allegations mentioned in Senator Pell's
letter have any basis in fact.
2. Please note that in addition to the time period specified
(1968-72), Senator Pell is interested in whether we either conducted,
financed, or encouraged other groups in any way in weather modification
activities; specifically, to cause drought or to cause severe storms or
flooding. Although Senator Pell's interest is primarily in Cuba, he
also asks whether we conducted any activities with respect to any other
nation.
3. We need to respond to Senator Pell no later than 30 July.
Attachment:
As stated
Distribution:
I - Each Add'e
v1~ OLC Subject
1 - OLC Chrono
OLC:THW:ndl (28 July 1976)
ST
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30 July 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR: Office of Legislative Counsel
SUBJECT Request from Senator Claiborne Pell --
Weather Modifications
ATTENTION
REFERENCES A. OLC 76-2100, 28 July 1976
(DDS&T #3059-76/1, 28 July 1976)
B. Letter from Senator Claiborne Pell
dated July 21, 1976
David S. Brandwein
Director
Office of Technical Service
1. In response to referent correspondence, the
Office of Technical Service has searched its files and
records concerning the possibility of any weather modifi-
cation activities that might have been conducted during
the period 1968-1972.
2. Senator Pell may be advised that this Office
has never conducted any such weather modifications during
the specific time frame of 1968-1972 or any other time.
cc: SA/DDS&T
ST
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04C1G-.2/3G
29 July 1976
T MEMORANDUM FOR:
Assistant Legislative Counsel
SUBJECT: Weather Modification - Senator Pell's Inquiry
Per your request of 28 July 1976 regarding Senator Clairborne
Pell's letter of 21 July 1976, the Office of Research and Development
has reviewed its files and finds no record of involvement of ORD
personnel or resources in an of the activities referred o.
Acting rec r
of
Research and Development
ST
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