Page 189 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

6.1 “Possible Methods for Seeding Supercooled Clouds and Ground Fog with Ice Crystal
Nuclei,” February 6, 1947: Vincent Schaefer’s military-inspired diagram for barraging
the clouds. Techniques include delivery of seeding agents silver iodide (AgI), zinc
oxide (Zno), carbon dioxide (Co ), and gas using aircraft, rockets, smoke generators,
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projectiles, and captive balloons. (schaefer papers)

bullets might cover a range of two miles in 30 seconds, change supercooled mois-
ture in the path of the plane to ice crystals, and thus continuously dissipate an icing
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condition as the plane travels”—sort of shooting your way through the clouds.
Remington Arms was the initial contractor, but the Army ordnance Department
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soon took over the task. Schaefer sketched pseudo-military schemes to barrage
the clouds with seeding agents, an array of armaments for battling the clouds that
would have made General Robert Dyrenforth jealous (figure 6.1).
The commercial cloud seeder Irving Krick was a weather warrior, too. He was
so sure that weather modification worked that he once testified before a Senate
subcommittee, “The nation that first acquires control of the weather shall be the
leading power in the world.” He envisioned wild strategic applications, such as
enhancing artificial precipitation, increasing radioactive fallout over nuclear tar-

172 | WeatHer WarriorS