Piousbox

In recent decades, the planet has been hit by so many natural disasters that many are beginning to doubt their natural origin. There is increasing talk of a secret climate weapon that can cause hurricanes, earthquakes and catastrophic rainfalls. Such assumptions are probably justified, because humans have long since learned to influence the forces of nature. But no one has yet managed to completely subjugate them. Operation Popeye, carried out by the Americans during the Vietnam War, only confirms this idea.

Operation Popeye Background

After World War II, the world's most powerful nations began to urgently rearm. Countries clearly saw the vulnerabilities of existing weapons, so the development of new ones began immediately. Scientists accelerated their work on improving nuclear weapons and creating jet aircraft. At the same time, research was underway in the field of climate weapons, which were considered a completely new direction.

The Vietnam War, which lasted from 1955 to 1975, turned into a testing ground for new weapons. It was there that climate weapons were first used in real combat conditions. True, this method was not resorted to immediately. By 1966, it became clear that conventional weapons could not cope with guerrillas who masterfully used the jungle and the Ho Chi Minh Trail - a network of supply routes for troops. Then science came into play. The Americans decided that if they could not defeat the enemy by force, they could drown his infrastructure.

The secret experimental operation was named "Popeye" after the character of the popular American cartoon of the time. The project was headed by Dr. Donald Hornig, the US President's adviser on science and technology. The main goal of the operation was to spray chemical reagents into rain clouds to significantly increase the amount of precipitation.

How did climate weapons work?

Operation Popeye began on March 20, 1967. Its essence was simple, but frightening: with the help of chemical reagents, mainly silver iodide, the Americans caused rainfall over Vietnam. These rains were supposed to wash away roads, flood fields and leave the guerrillas without food and weapons.

The technology was almost like something out of a science fiction movie. C-130 Hercules transport planes and F-4°C fighters took to the skies during the rainy season, from March to November. They sprayed silver iodide into the clouds, which exploded into precipitation. According to sources, the amount of rain increased threefold, and in some places sevenfold!

The First Unsuccessful Experience

The first experience with climate weapons can hardly be considered successful. In October 1966, the US Air Force sprayed silver iodide over the clouds, which the wind was driving toward the rebel positions. But things didn’t go as planned. Instead, a powerful downpour fell on the American special forces on the front lines. In just 4 hours, 23 centimeters of precipitation fell, which practically washed away the Yankees’ positions.

Although the result was the opposite of what was intended, it became obvious that the system really worked. All that was left was to refine the calculations and monitor the weather conditions more closely. After that, the tests continued in the east of Laos, in the area of ​​the Bulawen Plateau and the Kong River Delta, where the civilian population also suffered from the precipitation. The experiments were carried out for five years in a row - every rainy season, from March to November.

The scale of the climate war

Operation Popeye lasted from September 1967 to July 1972 and was relatively successful, extending the monsoon season from the usual 30 to 45 days. Five years of continuous impact on the climate of an entire region is an unprecedented experiment in the history of mankind. Over the years of the war, more than 5 million kilograms of silver iodide were sprayed from American aircraft.

Specially equipped WC-130A aircraft were used for the operation. Pilots regularly flew secret flights, spraying chemical reagents over the clouds of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Local residents had no idea that experiments were being conducted on them. Accustomed to the constant hum of American planes high in the sky, they believed that if there were no bombings and toxic substances, then nothing dangerous was happening.

A catastrophe that took thousands of lives

The climate weapon turned out to be not only effective, but also destructive. According to estimates, about 10% of Vietnam's territory was flooded due to the rains caused. Neighboring Laos, where there was no formal war, also suffered. Rains destroyed rice crops, depriving millions of people of food. Floods washed away roads, and overflowing rivers destroyed entire villages.

Floods destroyed crops. Washed-out roads paralyzed supplies, and landslides and floods took thousands of lives.

The Americans were able to achieve some strategic goals. The rains washed away the legendary Ho Chi Minh Trail, along which North Vietnamese troops were actively moving. This trail was a whole network of roads and paths in the jungle, invisible from the air and therefore practically invulnerable to American military aviation. The supply situation for the rebels became critical.

As is well known, nature does not forgive gross interference in its affairs. In 1971, the situation finally got out of control, and by the end of the summer a catastrophic flood broke out. The harvest was completely destroyed, and dozens of settlements were washed away by streams of water. According to rough estimates, the elements took the lives of about 100 thousand people. The exact number of victims will probably remain unknown.

The monstrous consequences of the military experiment were captured in his photographs by Japanese documentary photographer Kyoichi Sawada. His most famous work is called "Escape to Rescue," which shows women from South Vietnam with three children attempting to swim across a raging river. The photo won Kyoichi a Pulitzer Prize, after which the photographer found the family in the photograph and gave them half of the prize.

US Excuses and the UN Convention

Operation Popeye remained a closely guarded secret for a long time. US authorities categorically denied any involvement in the natural disaster. To divert suspicion, the Americans brought in renowned scientists. They claimed that a natural phenomenon called La Niña was to blame. Not everyone believed this, since such floods had never been observed in the known history of Southeast Asia.

In 1971, journalist Jack Anderson published an investigation in The Washington Post. Later, details surfaced in the Pentagon Papers and New York Times articles. The Nixon administration continued to deny everything, but the facts spoke for themselves. The public learned that their government was not just waging war, but also interfering with natural processes on a global scale. This became one of the loudest scandals of the era.

Under public pressure, the Pentagon closed the program in 1972. And in 1977, the UN adopted the Convention banning the use of climate weapons. However, experts say that the document has loopholes, and interest in such technologies has not disappeared. It is unlikely that the convention has completely stopped the desire to use the forces of nature for military purposes. Most likely, the development of such technologies continues, but ordinary people do not realize what scientists and the military have already achieved. However, today this is openly discussed only in the context of conspiracy theories.