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Operation Sea Spray

Operation Sea Spray was a bioweapons project of the United States Navy in the 1950's.

History

Beginning on September 26, 1950, the crew of a U.S. Navy minesweeper ship spent six days spraying Serratia marcescens into the air about two miles off the northern California coast. The aim of the project was to determine the susceptibility of a big city like San Francisco to a bioweapon attack by terrorists. In the following days, the military took samples at 43 sites to track the bacteria's spread, and found that it had quickly infested not only the city but surrounding suburbs as well. During the test, residents of these areas would have inhaled millions of bacterial spores. Clearly, their test showed, San Francisco and cities with similar size and topography could face germ warfare threats. “In this regard, the experiment was a success,” writes Rebecca Kreston.1)

Further reading

1)
Thompson, H. (2015, July 6). In 1950, the U.S. Released a Bioweapon in San Francisco. Smithsonian Magazine. http://archive.today/2022.09.02-135108/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1950-us-released-bioweapon-san-francisco-180955819/
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