Page 108 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

His primary apparatus consisted of galvanized evaporation pans containing
chemicals and water to be absorbed by the atmosphere, “where the fluid begins
to work to attract and accelerate moisture.” He also used a standard weather
bureau rain gauge to document his results. His first tower was 14 feet square and
12 feet high, with a small opening underneath to create an updraft and thus assist
the evaporation. Working with his brother Paul, Charles said he stayed up most
of the night, with Paul coming on duty from four to eight o’clock in the morning.
Then Charles would work again until six in the evening, sleep for three hours,
and get ready for the next night. one of the brothers was constantly on watch.
They had devised several alarms “for the detection of unannounced visitors dur-
ing the night,” and they kept a “small arsenal” inside their tent. Charles told the
reporter, “I can assure you anyone who is looking for trouble will find it. I devote
some time to hunting in the mountains.” Hatfield said his technique was much
more subtle and less noisy and flamboyant than those of his predecessors, but
that he charged much more. He claimed that he never wanted to apply to Wash-
ington for a patent, “for that would mean the publication of information and
rain-producers would spring up like mushrooms all over the country” (as they
did after 1947). When asked about those who were skeptical of his methods, Hat-
field quickly added, “Censure and ridicule are the first tributes paid to scientific
enlightenment by prejudiced ignorance” (8).
Willis L. Moore, chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, called Hatfield’s method
“fake rainmaking” and pointed out that widespread and “excessive” rains were
prevalent throughout the West that winter:

It is, therefore, apparent that the rainfall which was supposed to have been caused
by the liberation of a few chemicals of infinitesimal power was simply the result
of general atmospheric conditions that prevailed over a large area. It is hoped that
the people of southern California will not be misled in this matter and give undue
importance to experiments that doubtless have no value. The processes which oper-
ate to produce rain over large areas are of such magnitude that the effects upon
them of the puny efforts of man are inappreciable. 26

By operating in the climatologically established rainy seasons (usually in
midwinter in California), by consulting U.S. Weather Bureau forecasts, by tak-
ing contracts in drought-stricken regions on the chance that conditions would
improve, and by claiming success for any nearby shower, Hatfield was able to
operate at a substantial profit. Billing himself in newspaper ads as a “moisture
accelerator,” he built his tall, mysterious towers, usually in the hills and often
near a lake, and equipped them with large shallow pans in which he patiently

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