Waylon "Ben" Livingston
knows his ideas are controversial, so he steps lightly when talking
about them. His theories have been proven, the technology is in place.
Research shows his ideas could save hundreds, maybe even thousands, of
lives.
He is a fascinating man with credentials as long as the wingspan of the
airplanes he flew as a commander with the U.S. Navy in Korea and
Vietnam.
Livingston, 77, moved to Midland with his parents during the
Depression. He earned his master's degree in cloud physics from the
Naval Weapons Center and Navy Post Graduate School in California, a
degree he would use in the battlefields. He seeded clouds and
dramatically increased rainfall in his theater of war, creating
impassably muddy roads, slowing down the Vietnamese and Korean troops,
and saving lives and entire towns from occupation.
He is proudest of his award from the secretary of Navy, which says,
"Lt. Livingston
directly participated in project flights in a combat zone, in
program planning, scientific data collection and evaluation ... his
unwavering devotion to duty were major factors in the outstanding
success of the project and were instrumental in the development of a
unique, major combat capability for the United States."
Before receiving the
citation, Livingston was invited to the White House where he
briefed President Lyndon B. Johnson on the effectiveness of weather
control activities and the resulting slowing of traffic by the
military support trucks bringing supplies to Southeast Asian troops.
Livingston's findings deal with hurricanes and what scientists
call weather modifications. His research includes 265 missions
into the eyes of hurricanes and he calls himself maybe the "most
disgusted" person in the country about Hurricane Katrina.
The storm, he says simply, could have been dramatically curtailed, the
damage minimized, the levees of New Orleans saved.
Livingston works with scientists and pilots at Weather
Modification Inc., in Fargo, N.D. His theories also have been verified
by staffers there. He has logged 15,000 hours of hurricane
reconnaissance experience and all of his penetrations into the eyes of
hurricanes were of the low-level variety -- where he would fly in from
low altitude then up and into the eye. He said the refraction of light
onto the water through the eye of a hurricane is the most beautiful and
memorable site he has ever witnessed. It was made even more so after
nightfall when the stars and moon work together.
"In the 1960s, a
national priority of our government was hurricane control,"
Livingston said. "Silver iodide is used as a nuclei that causes
raindrops to form. The original hypothesis is that if you get enough
rain or cool air into a hurricane you can diminish its velocity and
strength. When I left the military in the 1960s, we had the ability
to do that, and reduce wind velocity in hurricanes by 25 percent and
damage caused by a hurricane by 63 percent."
Livingston said his
research of hurricane control was confirmed by the Stanford Research
Institute. The program of controlling hurricanes, though, was
mysteriously dropped by the federal government because of, as he termed
it, "politics and professional jealousy." Livingston said
powerful Washington lobbies control areas preventing the reinstatement
of the hurricane-reduction program, and when asked why it has not yet
been reinstated, Livingston cites what he calls an "industry of
destruction."
Livingston said his return trip this week to the WMI in Fargo
will hopefully result in a reinstatement of his program in 2006.
Although he says hurricane control is one thing the government should
definitely be trying to do, he suggested hurricane control be
privatized.
"You'd think the
insurance and energy sectors would jump all over something like
this, but they're not willing to go counter to a government agency,"
he said.
The hurricane control
program, he said, is a "no-brainer when it is explained in simple
terms," but he admitted it would cost millions of dollars to get off the
ground.
"The bottom line is, you
cannot make an argument against saving lives and property,"
Livingston said. "If it can be done, it ought to be done."
Livingston, who does
not believe global warming is to blame for the recent spate of deadly
hurricanes along the Gulf coast, said reinstating the hurricane control
program would have a greater impact for the good of the country.
"Someone a lot smarter
than I am could make a significant contribution to our nation if
they would just sit down with a half-dozen other smart people and
talk about this," Livingston said.