Government Quietly Admits to Weather Modification Program

[Melina Hawk]

It reminds me of Charles Hatfield. He was a "rain maker" at the turn of the 20th century. In 1904 he was commissioned in California to fill the Morena Dam. The area was suffering greatly from droughts, and the city felt they had nothing to lose by employing Hatfield to make rain. Besides his contract stated that if he did not produce rain, then he would not get paid. So the city felt it was a sure bet, that Hatfield not only couldn't produce the rain, but would never fill the dam. 

In 1915 the San Diego city council, pressured by the San Diego Wide Awake Improvement Club, approached Hatfield to produce rain to fill the Morena Dam reservoir. Hatfield offered to produce rain for free, then charge $1,000 per inch ($393.7 per centimetre) for between forty to fifty inches (1.02 to 1.27 m) and free again over fifty inches (1.27 m). The council voted four to one for a $10,000 fee, payable when the reservoir was filled. A formal agreement was never drawn up, though Hatfield continued based on verbal understanding. Hatfield, with his brother, built a tower beside Lake Morena and was ready early in the New Year.[2]:91

On January 5, 1916 heavy rain began - and grew gradually heavier day by day. Dry riverbeds filled to the point of flooding. Worsening floods destroyed bridges, marooned trains and cut phone cables - not to mention flooding homes and farms. Two dams, Sweetwater Dam and one at Lower Otay Lake, overflowed.[4] Rain stopped January 20 but resumed two days later. On January 27 Lower Otay Dam broke, increasing the devastation and reportedly causing about 20 deaths (accounts vary on the exact number).[citation needed]

Hatfield talked to the press on February 4 and said that the damage was not his fault and that the city should have taken adequate precautions. Hatfield had fulfilled the requirements of his contract - filling the reservoir - but the city council refused to pay the money unless Hatfield would accept liability for damages; there were already claims worth $3.5 million. Besides, there was no written contract. Hatfield tried to settle for $4000 and then sued the council.[citation needed] In two trials, the rain was ruled an act of God but Hatfield continued the suit until 1938 when two courts decided that the rain was an act of God, which absolved him of any wrongdoing, but also meant he did not get his fee

Source Link


Now I can imagine this happening, when trying to play God with the weather. I think it might bite back, yeah know?