Project Popeye

Ive been reading alot of the Hurricane Katrina threads and saw Weather manipulation pop up more then a few times. So I thought it would be interesting to bring up a proven US military weather manipulation project.

Top Secret Project
Code Name - Popeye (also known as Operation Intermediary or Operation Compatriot)

The Project was long running and very large it took place between March 1967 until 5 July 1972 in Vietnam. It was intended to reduce the mobility on the Ho Chi Minh Trail by increasing rain fall in the area. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the main supply route for the Viet Cong thus its was of vital military importance.

Objectives

(1) Softening road surfaces
(2) Causing landslides along roadways
(3) Washing out river crossings
(4) Maintain saturated soil conditions beyond the normal time span.

Cost

21.6 million ($100 million in 2000 dollars)

American forces began to seed the clouds across the route, hoping to flood rivers and make them impassable.

At the end of the first week of systematic seeding, you couldn't get across the fords anymore. You could look down and see these guys driving up by the river and stopping, and pretty soon, you'd see trucks in the river with water over the roof," said Saint-Amand.

When info on the project finally came out it the military tried to downplay the impact of Project Popeye. Claiming the increase in rainfall had only been marginal. " Affecting about around 5% of the precipitation in the region"

Critics wonder why a "ineffective" program ran for 5 long years. Also there were catastrophic floods in North Vietnam in 1971. These floods covered 10 % of the country. Was Project Popeye the cause of this flood?

Do the US still use military weather manipulation? These questions will likely not be known thanks to a A 1978 United Nations agreement which banned the use of weather manipulation for any military or hostile use.

Resolution 31/72

ARTICLE I

1. Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to engage in military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party.

2. Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to assist, encourage or induce any State, group of States or international organization to engage in activities contrary to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article.

This agreement does not however effect any peaceful weather manipulation. Infact the agreement seeks to foster the "fullest possible exchange of scientific and technological information" between member states in dealing with peaceful weather manipulation.


www.weather.com...

www.sunshine-project.org...

UN resolution 31/72

[edit on 10-9-2005 by ShadowXIX]