Editing Project Stormfury (section)

==Project Cirrus==
Project Cirrus was the first attempt to modify a hurricane. It was a collaboration of the [[General Electric]] Corporation, the [[US Army Signal Corps]], the [[Office of Naval Research]], and the [[US Air Force]].<ref name="Davies p. 85"/> After several preparations and initial skepticism by government scientists,<ref name="Bulletin p. 505">Willoughby, Jorgensen, Black, and Rosenthal p 505</ref> the first attempt to modify a hurricane began on October 13, 1947 on [[1947 Florida–Georgia hurricane|Hurricane Cape Sable]] that was heading [[boxing the compass|west to east]] and out to sea.<ref name="Whipple p. 151"/>

The project's two [[Boeing_B-17_Flying_Fortress|B-17]]s and a [[Boeing_B-29_Superfortress|B-29]] of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance group were dispatched from MacDill Field, Florida, to intercept the hurricane.<ref name="History of Project Cirrus">Havens p. 61</ref> The seeding B-17 flew along the [[rainbands]] of the hurricane, and dropped nearly 180 pounds (82 kilograms) of crushed [[dry ice]] into the clouds.<ref name="Davies p. 85"/> The crew reported "Pronounced modification of the cloud deck seeded".<ref name="Whipple p. 151"/> It is not known if that was due to the seeding. Next, the hurricane changed direction and made landfall near [[Savannah, Georgia]]. The public blamed the seeding, and [[Irving Langmuir]] claimed that the reversal had been caused by human intervention.<ref name="Bulletin p. 505"/> Cirrus was canceled,<ref name="Whipple p. 151"/> and [[lawsuit]]s were threatened. Only the fact that [[1906 Florida Keys hurricane|a system in 1906]] had taken a similar path, as well as evidence showing that the storm had already begun to turn when seeding began, ended the [[litigation]].<ref name="Whipple p. 151"/> This disaster set back the cause of seeding hurricanes for eleven years.

At first the seeding was officially denied and it took years before the government admitted it. According to the September 12, 1965 edition of the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, in 1947 a hurricane "went whacky" and "Twelve years later it was admitted the storm ''had in fact been seeded.''"<ref>Vinciguerra, T. (12 Sept. 1965). Betsy's Turnaround Stirs Big Question. Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel. Section C, page 1.</ref>