By Ken Welch (Ken_Welch@bigfoot.com)
 
May 3, 1999
 
       Since my first articles appeared about the spraying of cities, many  people  have been sending in reports of fuel-areosol spraying that clearly indicate  this is a coast-to-coast and nationwide program.
 
       Today Florence, South Carolina was heavily sprayed. Below is the report I received, which came in two separate e-mail messages. It is very similar to reports I've gotten from other cities
       and towns all across America. The senders ID is omitted for privacy.
 
 
       Date sent: Mon, 3 May 1999 15:10:39 EDT
       Subject: Contrail Spraying in South Carolina
       To: ken_welch@bigfoot.com
 
       Hello....I live in Florence, SC which is 65 miles Northeast of Columbia and 65 miles west of Myrtle Beach. On the morning of Monday May 3, 1999, I took my girlfriend to work at the mall which is on the western edge of town by I-20/95. When me and my friend dropped her off, we start noticing all these contrails that have been laid down. Very odd looking in that there were alot of them. Visibility was excellent in this area as it is right beside the interstate, so we could see for a long distance. I tell him about your article I read at Sightings.com and we start watching what's going on. At the time we were at the mall there were about 5-10 clearly-spreading contrails across the sky. I got the sense they had started appearing around 8:30-9:00am as it was a little after 9 when we first observed them. We also observed a plane heading along the western edge of the city in a northerly direction laying down more contrails, and a plane on the eastern edge heading south laying down another one.
      We entered the mall for about an hour and when we came out it appeared that the plane working the eastern edge (over town) had first appeared between the mall and the city (about 1-1 1/2 miles apart) but now was to the far eastern edge of the city--definitely farther east for sure.  I got the sense that 3 planes were doing this. The contrails did not stay 'tight' and then dissolve, but rather they spread out and became artificial clouds, if you can believe that. This was a cloudless blue sky before the planes began...but they changed all of that. It's 2:30 pm now, and alot of it has faded but you can STILL see some of the wispy clouds remaining in the sky.
       I called the airport and the controller told me that '1000's' of jets fly over every day and that the contrails were not a problem and did not contain anything that would drift down on us. He also skirted my question about who was using the airspace and if there was a military operation in progress. Answer: "We havent had a military op in awhile."
      Also, I was told that the jets that fly over us do so at 35,000 feet and I find it real hard to believe that the jets we were watching were that high. So, anyway, we were getting nervous about the sheer  number of contrails they laid down. When we left the mall we drove to my house and on the way       stopped at a store 5 miles from the mall. We exited just in time to see a twin engine plane fly over to the east heading north spraying a double plumed contrail out behind it, which was VERY thick.
 
       Also when coming from the mall we looked down Highway 52  towards Darlington, a small town 10 miles west of us, and you could see the "Artificial clouds" all the way back in that direction. The heaviest concentration of contrails we first saw were between Florence and Darlington (i.e. the mall) but we also can't forget the plane which ended-up all the way east of Florence spreading trails.
 
       I will say that being an Air Force brat, and also living around here for 18 years, I've never seen any thing like this before. It's so bizarre you can't help but question who's putting on the "Insane Air Show"over town. I mean it's a little ridiculous to think that planes travelling over us laid down this many contrails not to mention the circuitous nature of the planes involved. It appeared to me that by the time they had finished they had covered an area 25-35 miles wide east to west.
 
       Also I don't know if this has any bearing...but we were hit with flooding rains the last 4 days straight and this was the first blue cloudless day since. Anyway, when 'they' finished there were so   many contrails over us I couldnt have even counted them, but they definitely did spread out into cloud form when it was over. I mean the only word that comes to mind with the number of contrails we saw was "overkill."
 
       Me and my friend looked at your photos on the website and trust me those pics represent exactly what we saw (especially the Philadelphia shot with the blue sky, but ours looks to be alot wider swath than that).
 
       I wish I had gotten some pictures or some footage but I was kind of stunned by the whole thing and was busy on the phone here trying to get the media involved to check it out. Like I say, the pics on your site accurately represent what we saw.
 
       And by the way my nose hasn't quit burning since we came in from being out there either. We also noticed some shortness of breath and I must say these feelings came on pretty quickly. Also, I'm noticing that my eyes are burning, too.
 
       I hope you find this interesting and please feel free to reply.
       Thanks, * * *
 
 
       P.S.--BTW i talked to a friend of mine 50 miles west of San Francisco and she says they have all been sick with respiratory ilnesses they blamed on allergies and that theyve got planes flying      over them all the time. Alot of my friends around here have been sick also. I've been stopped up for 2-3 weeks. We have been blaming these ills on pollen but then again maybe we were sprayed       before this in the early a.m.; I'm usually a night person and am not up at 9am to see something like this. I wouldnt have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes, so I'm glad I was up this morning.   Peace.
 
       The pictures from Marv of the Grand Canyon trails look like what we saw but we were hit with many more trails than what appear in that picture.....
       (Long parallel strips - KW)
 
       _________
 
       Date sent: Mon, 3 May 1999 16:25:18 EDT
       Subject: SC Contrails-Final Report
       To: Ken_Welch@bigfoot.com
 
       Just ventured out to the store and I was wrong.....not wispy clouds but a numerous spread of clouds in all directions as far as the eye can see.....also ironic was to the west, and between distance and altitude a barely visible plane, laying a twin engine contrail in a gradual climb......however the plane that flew closest to us this morning was about the size of a penny held at arms length and the    shape clearly visible but not details--by the way my face feels burning irritation around cheeks,mouth and eyes, and like you said it feels like a fuel burn, say when lighter fluid leaks out of a lighter on      to the skin....anyway Im packin it in and staying indoors so take it easy....Hope you find out what its all about because now im surely
       curious as hell..........
 
       Good Luck, * * *
 
       ===============
 
       And good luck from Houston,
 
       Ken Welch

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