California Skywatch

MARCH 27, 2002

BEGINNING ON March 27, 2002, a number of individuals, in Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties (California), began to keep a chronological log of jets leaving varying types of lingering contrails, unusual types of weather patterns, tree health, mold and mildew problems, human health problems, and newspaper articles on usual events. It is believed that jets leaving lingering contrails, and jet fuel emissions, are causing detrimental human health effects and environmental degradation.

(There are both still pictures and video tapes of many of the events which are found on this website. If newspaper articles, government documents (see the "Subtext" section), or Internet articles are noted, they are public records that you may access at any time. This information is provided to establish that the pictures on this website are of events that happen in Northern California all of the time and are not just rare occurrences.)

March 27, 2002

INTRODUCTION: My name is Rosalind Peterson and I reside in Mendocino County, which is located in Northern California. I have lived here almost my entire life. I grew up in a world that encompassed mostly clear, deep blue skies on a regular basis. The wind always changed direction in the same way before rain. The Masonite smokestack in Ukiah, California, was the first telltale sign of a change as the plume direction would dramatically shift prior to a rain or the United States flag in the Raley’s shopping center would fan out in a different direction. The weather here was fairly consistent all the time. The stars at night would feel so close and be so bright one could almost reach out and touch them.

And then in the 1990’s there came a change…I am not sure exactly when…old pictures indicate about 1992 or 1993 (a few show evidence as early as 1990), when the first contrails were detected. There were not many because most of the pictures then showed clear blue skies…normal here in the late spring, summer and early fall months, and whenever it wasn't raining in the winter months.

My sense of the world around me in the late 1990’s and prior to March 27, 2002, was a general feeling that our sky was overcast a lot more than normal. I remember not liking the jets that came over because it always turned our blue skies into a haze. I thought the jets were skywriting but I paid little attention. It was a vague impression only rarely considered...an irritation…something that I would check into one day.

I also realized that the trees here on my property were not as healthy as in the past. I was not sure why and had taken no action to determine why many were declining relatively quickly. However, I found it was disturbing that Oaks, Redwoods, Manzanita and other bushes and shrubs were not as healthy as in previous years. I definitely noticed that almost all of the Manzanita were dying and that the Douglas Fir and several types of Oaks and Pines were also declining. However, at that time I had taken no action to find out what was causing these problems.

On March 27, 2002, at Noon, my entire life changed. A friend stopped me on the street and invited me into his office. He asked me what I knew about aerial spraying in Ukiah, California (Mendocino County). I knew there was no agricultural spraying (and there had not been any for years in our County). I told him I knew nothing about any type of spraying (from crop dusters) or any other types of planes. Many years ago I knew that planes were used here for crop dusting…and then this practice was stopped.

My friend spoke of jet airplanes (non-commercial jets), that were crisscrossing our skies on an almost daily basis. He told me who to contact and where to find additional information. Then he took me outside...some blue sky was visible…to see a couple of jets moving across the sky leaving thin white plumes ...I watched fascinated by what I was seeing.

I continued to watch on my way back to work...large, white plumes, trailing unmarked white or silver jets. I noticed several of these planes prior to entering my office. On a break later in the afternoon I walked outside...the sky had less blue and more jets, leaving ever-widening contrails, flew overhead. Some of the earlier thinner plumes had spread out across the sky leaving a white haze or unusual cloud formations. I was fascinated.

When I left work at 5:00 P.M., that day and started home, the sky was almost completely covered in lingering contrails. I stopped at several freeway off ramps to watch several jets moving from north to south on both sides of the Ukiah Valley. I watched, amazed, from home until dark, with old binoculars, while the sky was completely covered in lingering contrails...no blue sky to be seen anywhere. (If you want to see a short clip of a jet and its plume similar to the ones seen today, go to the Photo Section of this site. There is a short clip shot on May 18, 2002, that you can see on the Media Player. Click on either bandwidth to view this clip.)

Later, around 10:00 P.M., I drove into town and was amazed to see these lingering contrails falling from the sky toward the ground. One could see this almost mist-like white haze moving downward. The questions began to form... Who? What was being released? Why? Where? Cost? I had seen many supersonic jets during the day. There were an amazing number of questions and no answers.

What I saw on March 27, 2002, changed my life. What I have learned since that day and continue to learn is amazing. And it leads me to invite you to become a sky watcher, to educated yourself, keep an open mind about what you will see and ask questions.

My log book goes on and on...pages of notes, video tape, and thousands of pictures...they document the dying of the trees here and across the United States...the loss of our clear, deep, blue skies, the awareness of "global dimming", atmospheric heating and testing programs, like HAARP...and the myriad of weather modification programs...the log book is enormous...the documents keep piling up denoting programs and campaigns by the hundreds and thousands.

The vocabularly has changed. And now we are being asked to "geoengineer" our upper atmosphere using chemical technology to mitigate man-made air polllution. Instead of using technology to solve air pollution problems around us on the ground some scientists and environmetal groups like the idea of using this as a money making "caps and trade" scheme based on money "markets". These two ideas don't solve our problems they just add to the pool of pollution that will have negative impacts our water and food supplies. No one benefits from these two plans.

My log book started below has taken me to May 24, 2006:

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The following partial chronology is just my field notes or quotes from various newspapers and magazines about various unusual events.

February 2003- Plant Watch - Popular Mechanics Magazine

Peru "...heavy rains caused massive flooding of the Blanco River in the Amazon jungle on November 10, 2002..."

Austria "...Freak 100-mph winds derailed a train engineer Salzburg, killing one person. The storm, which uprooted trees, and damaged 100 houses, struck on November 16, 2002."

Morocco "...The worst floods in three decades...in late November 2002..."

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Friday, January 31, 2003

The "blitz period from yesterday continued through today. Pictures taken and videotape show the myriad of jets and lingering jet contrails present all day. Huge plumes could be seen expanding over the Ukiah Valley and into Lake County throughout the day. Hazy sun filtered through the heavy overcast and haze. Weather reports (KGO Radio), discussed more stagnant air and haze. It should also be noted that KGO Radio weathermen were reporting unusually warm weather in Los Angeles (high 80 degree temperatures) and San Diego (90 degrees-some 80 degree temperatures as well), in January 2003.

Thursday, January 30, 2003

The non-commercial jets, leaving their lingering contrails, "blitzed" Mendocino County today, all day, leaving expanding lingering contrail plumes everywhere. Weather reports from KGO radio reported haze and stagnant air. Could this possibly be a result of the effect of the jets looping-the-loop over us and the Pacific Ocean west of Mendocino County?

(A "BLITZ" is a period of time in which many jets fly in different directions, only minutes apart, leaving "the large "twist" types of plumes and other contrails that very quickly expand in size. The goal is to cover our skies completely in haze and to keep our skies in that state for hours, and sometimes days, at a time. Many times, during a "blitz" period no sign of our blue skies is evident. Sometimes the haze turn into bizarre cloud formations. Unusual colors and patterns may also be seen at times.)

Sunday, January 26, 2003

Weather Report: Light misty rain in the Ukiah Valley this morning. Wakened by usual jet traffic early A.M. (Note: The 2002 movie on TNT today, Monte Walsh, has lots of sky scenes several of which show obvious lingering jet contrails.)

Ukiah, California - Pictures taken between 11:30 A.M. and 12:15 P.M.of the cloud cover over Ukiah. Lingering jet contrails were seen on the North side, West side and East Side of town and photographed. On the West side low over the horizon was a narrow "Mushroom" type contrails that widen for the next 45 min tuesday. The progression was documented to show how this widening plume grew over time and then turned into cloud-like cover by 12:15 P.M. The sky may have had some blue areas mixed in with "normal" clouds without the effects of these lingering contrails. The temperature is warm for January.

Saturday, January 25, 2003

Weather Report: Rain in the Ukiah Valley throughout the night stopping early this morning. The expected clearing was slow throughout the morning hours with very patchy sunlight filtering through the clouds.

Pictures taken at The Forks at 12:40 P.M. revealed a jet traveling east to west from Lake County toward the Mendocino Coast leaving a "Toothpaste" type trail. The sky looked like there were suspicious clouds that had been formed by lingering jet contrails in places. In addition, pictures taken at 1:30 P.M. revealed the upper level haze left by lingering jet contrails as well as two parallel lines that had widened along the west Ukiah Valley horizon. The low-hanging fog-like clouds that ringed the Ukiah Valley all morning are all unusual sights here as historically this type of cloud cover was not present in the Ukiah Valley. It is believed that our sky would have been clear without the presence of jets leaving lingering contrails.

Friday, January 24, 2003

Weather Report: Cloudy all day - no blue sky. Rain started in the late afternoon and continued through the evening hours.

Thursday, January 23, 2003

The time is 1:50 A.M. and the sound of large jet(s), one or more can be heard going overhead. It has been raining but all is quiet now except for the jet sounds. Sometimes they are so low in certain areas they wake up people in the middle of the night on the Mendocino Coast, in Hopland, Ukiah, and places in Lake County. Why almost 24 hours a day? What are they up to over the Pacific Ocean? Why aren't the weathermen able to forecast weather very well these days? A communication and weather modification program? or experiment?

Weather Report: Mostly cloudy all day with very little rain in the Ukiah Valley. No Blue Sky to report today - Some clearing in the late P.M. hours.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Rain in the Ukiah Valley again all day today. Rained in Santa Rosa between 6 and 9:00 P.M. The question is always what are the jets doing above the cloud cover? One can hear them at times.

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Rain in the Ukiah Valley on and off all day today. No Blue Sky visible.

Monday, January 20, 2003

It rained (very light), in Redwood Valley early this morning - rain was not expected until Tuesday. When the low clouds began to disappear one could see the lingering contrails high above them. Took pictures of one large jet contrail to West and one of another jet moving north, leaving a toothpaste trail, just above the western hills in the Ukiah Valley. Low fog-like clouds (unusual for the Ukiah Valley), hung low over the hills on the east side of HWY 101. Documented this information in pictures taken at approximately 1:38 P.M. today.

Additional pictures were taken between 4:30 and 5:15 P.M. The pictures recorded the lingering jet contrails over Ukiah prior to the storm front coming in which brought rain by approximately 8:00 P.M. in Redwood Valley. The pictures show many jets leaving contrails, flying in various directions, and the unusual lingering jet contrail patterns. The contrail patterns left behind were the plumes that cover the sky in shorter period of time, unlike the "Toothpaste" variety that dissipate more rapidly.

Joyriding unmarked jets wasting our tax dollars? No private entity has that kind of money!

Sunday, January 19, 2002

Started taking pictures at approximately 8:30 A.M. Jets leaving "Toothpaste" type trails were flying across the Ukiah Valley documented by pictures, in almost every direction. The unusual part come when one jet, viewed from the Raleys' parking lot, started make oval circles, leaving "Toothpaste" Trails in an intermittent fashion. The circling went on for some time with this particular jet making at least 6 to 7 passes. Another jet joined the first one and proceeded to complete from 2-3 ovals just slightly wider than the first jet who continued on this pattern. This continued for some time between 9:15 A.M. and approximately 10:30 A.M. what is the purpose of these flights? During this time an unusual color pattern appeared as the sun reflected through one of the lingering contrail patterns. Almost a reddish-brown round type pattern which lasted for a few minutes prior to the lingering contrail dissipating.

These jets continued to be photographed until il 12:30 P.M. the sky was clear for the rest of the day - rated as a medium to light blue. Jets were also observed in Lake County today.

January 12, 2003

The daily weather report for Redwood Valley, California: Steady rain all day.

January 11, 2003

The daily weather report: It has been raining steadily here all day. However, large jets have been heard flying above the clouds today. The most recent flight was at 2:42 P.M., in Redwood Valley, California - Mendocino County. Rain continued throughout the day.

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The Real Estate Section: The Press Democrat - Sonoma County - December 7, 2002: "Toxic Mold Problem Spreading...Mold has become a huge legal and financial problem for homeowners and insurer, not to mention a significant health concern. Now it is turning into a big headache at commercial properties-from apartments to hotels to shopping centers..."

The rapid increase in mold could be caused by the effects of lingering jet contrails that cover our skies and keeping sunlight from reaching the earth's surface. Since there is documentation that these unmarked, non-commercial jets are flying over most of the United States on any given day, would this not impact the amount of sunlight reaching the earth? Could this be keeping normal moisture from evaporating or leave many areas experiencing higher humidity than normal, thereby causing mold problems? Why not call for an investigation of this potential problem?

"...The fungal growth, found in damp or wet conditions, has been blamed for a number of health problems, including breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea, gastrointestinal ailments, skin rashes, several allergic reactions and neurological damage...The problem has been most severe Texas and California...But the fact that mold problems are creeping into bigger properties is spooking commercial real-estate owners and insurers..."

"...Robert Hartwig, chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute, says most insurers have reported triple-digit increases in the frequency of mold-related claims in commercial buildings over the past year...Watch for clues on property tours such as leaks, wet spots, condensation and stains or musty odors...Obtain copies of all existing indoor air quality and mold reports..."

"...Meanwhile, legislators across the country are calling for more research into mold. States including California, texas, New Jersey, Indiana and Maryland have established task forces or proposed legislation that will develop guidelines and regulations on the program..." Note that insurance policies may start excluding mold due to increasing lawsuit. In addition, the CDC is beginning to study the health effects of mold.

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2002 Universal Studios' Movie The Bourne Identity

Check out the first scene in the Movie shot in Paris, France. Interesting to note that that obvious jet contrails are visible in the first sky scene in paris. If you check out Real Estate photographs, TV commercials, documentaries, recent books with pictures, and skies scenes in magazines you will begin to see jet contrails and signs of lingering jet contrails. Soon the sight of a clear blue sky will be rare. Why? Friends recently went to England to photographs famous places and brought back sky pictures similar to the ones of contrails and lingering jet contrails you will find on this website. Why countries that belong to NATO? Why Seattle, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Ohio, California and so many more places?

Scientific American Magazine - November 2002 - "Burning Questions"

"Scientists work to understand and control the plague of wildfires in the West" by Douglas Gantenbein

"...By late this past July, it seemed the entire West was ablaze. At that point, more than four million acres of forest and brush land had burned-twice the annual average in the past decade. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, the U.S. coordination center for wildfire, had been at its highest alert level for more than a month, a stage it didn't hit until August the previous year...The reasons behind these appalling seasons of fire are many: forest management that attempted to control fires but instead made them worse, severe drought...Since the early 1960's fires have become consistently hotter and bigger..."

"...The fires that raged in Oregon, Colorado, Arizona and other states in 2002 all were crown fires, the most devastating type. Fires of this kind were once rare...today fires commonly shoot flames 400 feet into the air, can generate temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and devour perhaps 35 tons of fuel an acre in just an hour. The winds they create may reach 100 miles an hours..."

"... Worse, these fires can utterly destroy forests of Ponderosa pine, the dominant tree species in the West...The Ponderosa is supremely adapted to coexist with fire. But only frequent, small fires, not infrequent, huge ones. One solution offered is to turn back the clock on forests, re-creating woodlands that look like they did before European settlers brought sheep and the forest service brought firefighting hotshot crews...In any event, fires will threaten the West for years to come, with climate change perhaps influencing them in ways not yet fore seen..."

A new word today: "Geoengineering"

Could this be the use of technology and chemicals to experiment on the upper atmosphere?

Would the use of atmoshperic chemicals, like barium and aluminum, contribute to hotter fires as these chemicals mix and float downward toward the ground? What happens when these chemicals are in the air or on the ground when a fire starts? Hotter and higher fires?

Note: Air pollution and other events are causing tree deaths and declines in tree health. This leaves more fuel for fires to burn. In addition, the trees don't hold as much moisture and protect the under foliage from drying conditions. With environmental impacts on trees, bushes and shrubs from an increasing number of outside sources, fire becomes worse. What is the impact of emergency fuel releases by jets, air pollution from jet fuel emissions, weather modification programs and the chemicals used in those programs which may dry out forest lands and change weather patterns?

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October 5, 2002

On October 5, 2002, I received a a telephone call from a friend traveling through Flagstaff, Arizona. There were lingering contrails and jets flying there, more than have been seen here at any one time. The trees in the Grand Canyon area are declining and show similar symptoms as are found here. No one in the Park Service seems to have an answer - appear to be puzzled by the sudden decline.

The Press Democrat - Friday, November 29, 2002: "NATION WASHINGTON..."The military command responsible for the defense of North American airspace scrambled fighter jets in response to unverified reports of an airborne condensation trail, or contrail, moving from the Caribbean to the United States, defense officials said Thursday..." (My note: Were they just chasing ice crystals as the United States Air Force claims that lingering contrails are just ice crystals on their website?)

"...Lt. Col. Michael Humm, a Pentagon spokesman, said the incident happened Wednesday and that the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., was continuing to investigate. The reported contrail stirred concern because of the possibility that it could have indicated the presence of an unauthorized jet aircraft in or approaching American airspace. In the aftermath of September. 11 attacks, the Pentagon has taken greater precautions to monitor U.S. air space..." (My note: Then why can't anyone identify the unmarked jets that are flying overhead in Mendocino County on an almost 24 hour-a-day basis?)

"...The jets that were scrambled to attempt to intercept and identify the source of the contrail found nothing, said Lt. Cmdr. Curtis Jenkins, a NORAD spokesman. He said NORAD had developed no new information since the initial report at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Ottawa, Wis."

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August 19, 2002

Article in the Ukiah Daily Journal, Ukiah, California by the Associated Press: "The wispy trails of exhaust that jetliners spew high in the sky form cirrus clouds...when commercial jet traffic was halted by last fall's terrorist attacks, researchers seized upon the unique opportunity to compare the climate data for the clear skies on September 11-14, 2001, against the days of normal air traffic when jets streak the havens with contrails. Their conclusion: Without jets or contrails, the clear skies boosted the temperature swing between daytime highs and nighttime lows by about 3 degrees nationwide. The temperature swing in the Northeast and Midwest where there is more jet traffic rose as much as five degrees..."

"...Also unknown is whether it (lingering jet contrails) might influence agriculture by changing crop growth and the emergence of insect pests and diseases..."

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July 27, 2002

Article in the Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California by Mary Fricker: HPR (Health Plan of the Redwoods ) falls into fiscal hole. HMO lost another $2.6 million in June...an unexpected surge in claims that began in January (2002), and continue today have caused the HMO to lose $1.8 million a month, on average, during the first six months of this year..." Did this unexpected surge come from increased respiratory, lung, throat, Asthma, and other related ailments? Does anyone have an answer? It is curious that respiratory illnesses are increasing. Why?

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Following up "...All-Seeing Eye for Uncle Sam...the Department of Defense has launched the Total Information Awareness system. It not only will be able to monitor phone conversations and e-mail, but will also tap into databanks containing school, banking, medical, court and motor vehicle registration records..."