Early History -12- 



assume it had caused this snowstorm, it did believe that, with weather con- 

 ditions as they were, they could have started a general snowstorm two to 

 four hours before it actually occurred, if they had been able to seed above 

 the clouds during the early morning.. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF PROJECT CIRRUS 



This, then, was the situation in which the research workers found 

 themselves by the end of the year: Their work on precipitation static, 

 then on aircraft icing, had developed through cloud studies into meteoro- 

 logical work of profound significance. Eut, while their work on precipita- 

 tion static and aircraft icing had been done under government contract, the 

 work they were now doing on weather research was not. Their last con- 

 tract had expired at the end of the previous June. 



At this point Dr. C. G. Suits, Director of the Research Laboratory, 

 reported some of the results of cloud seeding to General Electric officials. 

 While it was clear that weather modification and experimental meteorology 

 were remote from the research which had been the traditional interest of 

 the laboratory and the Company, it was equally clear that these new results 

 were possibly of very great significance to the country. It was, therefore, 

 decided that the work should be encouraged and pushed forward. 



Eecause the results might have such wide application to the country 

 generally, and because much government assistance would be needed in the 

 form of weather data, airplanes, and flight equipment, a government con- 

 tract for the continuation of the work was to be sought. While the govern- 

 ment agency which had sponsored the previous research was not interested 

 in the new work, other government agencies were. Normal contacts with the 

 Signal Corps, for example, had kept that organization in touch with the new 

 research, and Col. Yates, chief of the Air Weather Service, had asked the 

 Company to submit a bid covering this work in the latter part of September. 

 A formal proposal covering cloud modification and cloud particle studies 

 was submitted to the Evans Signal Laboratory at Eelmar, New Jersey 

 (a Signal Corps unit) on September 20. Meanwhile the weather studies were 

 being conducted at General Electric expense, although General Electric anti- 

 cipated no benefit resulting to the Company from the work from a meteoro- 

 logical standpoint. 



The flight test of December 20 added a powerful stimulus to the Com- 

 pany's negotiations with the government. Although the General Electric press 

 release covering it did not claim that the general snowstorm was caused by 

 the seeding, the coincidence of the two events did cause some independent 

 speculation over the possibility of cause and effect. 



