The fog of history
by Bill Miller for
the Mail Tribune
Monday, August 12th
2019
For many of us, history floats
somewhere in an impenetrable fog; a world of mystery, confusion and danger.
When we study history,
misunderstandings abound. We make mistakes, and what we think we know often
turns out to be absolutely wrong.
I once worked with a history buff who
loved to write about all sorts of things, even if he didn’t know
what really
happened, or his lazy research never revealed the truth.
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| Landing at the Medford Airport Is Often Hampered by Fog |
He filled any “historic holes” with
creative facts that seemed to fit what he believed made sense, whether it was
right or wrong.
Defending himself, he would say,
“Nobody ever looks at this anyway, so nobody is going to question me or ever
know the difference.”
No one could ever convince him that
truth will usually win out.
Take the local example of cloud seeding
to disperse thick fog at the Medford Airport. The purpose of seeding is to
create a visual clearance through the fog so that aircraft on their final
approach can land safely.
Although fog seeding ended in late
2009, when a new technique replaced it, the original seeding idea was pioneered
in Southern Oregon in the 1950s. That technique is often credited to George
Milligan,
founder of Mercy Flights, however, that isn’t true. Milligan didn’t
make his first attempt until December 1959, years after the two men who
actually created and patented the idea had left town.
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| Dissipating Fog With a Balloon at Medford Airport |
Two ex-WWII Navy pilots, Harvey Brandau
and Eugene Kooser, flew into Medford in May 1949. Hired by a local association
dedicated to supporting fruit shippers and growers, the fliers would conduct
aerial experiments to see if destructive hail storms could be reduced or
eliminated by seeding clouds from an airplane.
The previous year, 1948, hail had cost
the valley fruit industry over a half million dollars.
“The boys were ready to do battle,”
said Mail Tribune City Editor Eric Allen, “flying over-age warplanes into the
middle of thunderstorms.
”
After two years of experiments, because
no significant hail storms occurred, results were inconclusive and
controversial, leaving the men, Allen said, “both cussed and discussed.”
Farmers accused the aviator’s
experiments of creating two years of summer droughts, and cursed every airplane
they saw overhead.
Hoping to calm the anger and perhaps
provide more water in the spring and summer, Harvey and Eugene decided to try
to seed clouds and achieve a deeper snow pack in the mountains. Snow-depth
readings were also inconclusive.
The men turned their attention to fog
dispersal at the Medford airport. After weeks of waiting to test their new
chemical mixture they named “Goop,” (later revealed to be common table salt and
silver iodine), opportunity arrived.
On Nov. 18, 1950, fog was so thick
United Airlines flight 159 was holding over the airport and about to divert to
Eugene, where passengers would have to ride a bus back to Medford.
Eugene took off from Ashland and soon
began treating the Medford fog with a mixture of Goop and dry ice. A hole
opened up and low-level fog dispersed. Just a half-hour behind schedule, the
DC-3 was able to land.
United Airlines was impressed enough to
offer the aviators a contract to continue fog experiments to see whether their
method “had a practical application to scheduled airline operations.” After 42
tests, the airline declined to renew the contract, saying results were
“uncertain; although, there have been significant results.”
Harvey and Eugene had already filed and
would receive a patent on their invention; however, with no financial backing,
their experiments ended and both aviators left town. Eugene took his family to
Houston, Texas, in 1955 and continued efforts to manipulate weather for decades.
Harvey bought a tire sales business that he took to Washington in 1957.
Like a Medford runway on a January
morning, history often wraps itself in a thick, impenetrable fog; its
importance hidden just inches away.
Writer Bill Miller is the author of
“History Snoopin’,” a collection of his previous history columns and stories.
Reach him at newsmiller@live.com or WilliamMMiller.com.
