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Saturday 21 June 2008

THE PLANE AND SWAZI RAIN

I expressed my annoyance at the Swazi Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives last week because he refused to dismiss the absurd idea that Swaziland’s drought was being caused by an aircraft shooting away rain clouds.

I had this response to the post from Arnau van Wyngaard, who gives some interesting background to the story.

I don't want to express an opinion about the article you refer to, but I do recall in 1986 or 1987 that there was someone from Pongola who was flying all along the southern border of Swaziland when clouds appeared and released, I think it was sulphur, into the clouds which was supposed to make the vapor droplets cling to each other and so become heavy enough for it to rain.

As I travelled frequently between Nhlangano and Hluti, I saw this with my own eyes on more than one occasion. However, on all occasions, before I reached my destination, the clouds had disappeared into thin air and I never experienced it raining after that aeroplane had released the chemical into the clouds.

Even at that time the story was told that this aeroplane was shooting the clouds and thereby causing the drought.

I'll withhold myself on commenting about the science behind the theory, but I think this is probably the background to the article you mentioned.

See also
‘AIRCRAFT CAUSE SWAZI DROUGHT’

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