posted 12-23-2002 07:22 PM            

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Mystery White Powder
Cover OK Town
Just What Was That White Stuff?
By Toni Hopper
The Duncan Banner
12-22-2

What was that powdery substance covering vehicles throughout Stephens County on Wednesday?
Was there a volcano eruption somewhere in the world, dropping ash on Duncan?
Maybe it was some unknown chemical sprayed from an airplane as it flew over southern Oklahoma during the early morning hours. Was it acid rain? A terrorist attack? Fairy dust?
As questions about the mysterious 'dust' began coming into The Banner office and became a topic of conversation around town Wednesday, my investigative instincts kicked in.
I heard a patron at Duncan Public Library make an odd remark. I had an animated discussion with several library aides.
"It's those al-Qaida terrorists," an elderly gentleman surmised. He grabbed up his books and started to leave, loudly warning everyone, "Don't lick your windshields."
Everyone laughed.
Then library employees Kim Dickson and Jackie Wilmoth asked me to follow them outside to the parking lot. I was astonished to see their cars covered in the powdery substance. Dickson even snapped pictures of her vehicle.
I began to feel like one of those forensic investigators on the television show 'C.S.I.'
I recalled seeing similar white spots on my vehicle earlier in the day. At the time, I hadnāt given them a second thought. Now my curiosity was winning out, and I needed to know: What was that stuff?
Not only were the patrons and library employees wondering, apparently the discussion also was occurring at many locations throughout Duncan. Students at Red River Technology Center reportedly discussed it, and diners at various restaurants mused over their lunches about the powdery substance.
Calls came in to The Banner. After all, people at the paper reportedly know everything.
Veteran Air Force flight engineer Darrel Cooper was one of those callers. His main reason for calling was to request we find someone to analyze the substance.
"I live up on Greenbriar, eight or 10 blocks north of the hospital," he said. "I think it's from an airplane. I didn't want to taste it. I know, when I was in the Air Force, they'd use their toilets in flight. Before they'd land, they'd open the valve and dump it."
Cooper continued, "I don't think that's what it was. I'm just curious. It's all over around my house, on the lid of the trash can. And all the cars in this neighborhood."
He also speculated the substance had been carried into Duncan by an airplane on a flight pattern across the community. But when I told him Dawn Price, a Comanche County health worker from Fort Sill, also reported it on her car, Cooper was stumped as to how a substance from one plane would cover such a wide area.
Price, too, stopped at the library Wednesday morning. She said her vehicle was clean as late as 11 p.m. Tuesday. On Wednesday, she discovered the substance on her car. She, too, hadn't given it much thought ÷ at first.
People shopping at Wal-Mart between 11 p.m. and midnight reported their cars were clean when they entered the store, but they found the vehicles covered with the powdery substance when they got back outside. Cokie Kifer felt sprinkles on her head when she was walking into Wal-Mart around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. She assumed it was rain.
Associate Editor Jeff Kaley and I conjured up the scenario of a massive fire somewhere in the community, which might have dumped ash around during the night.
There were no such reports from Tuesday evening.
Cooper scoffed at the fire idea. He said a simple cotton swab and analyzed test would prove his theory that someone might have dumped something from an airplane.
"Maybe they had something they couldn't land with. I know I'm not going to taste it," he said.
Several people concurred with his notion that the substance might have been a chemical powder. Thatās the power of the subconscious terrorism threat Americans have shared the past year.
Ryan City Clerk Diane Williams said, "Years ago, we felt very secure and comfortable. Since Sept. 11, that isn't true."
Cooper suggested, "Call the EPA. You know, with all this stuff going on in the world...."
Other folks offered simpler, more logical explanations, like my son, Tim; Kaley's wife, Karen; and Marlow firefighter Jimmy Worthley. They said the substance was just dirty rain.
Their theory: Late Tuesday night, a light rain storm that was a mixture of moisture and dust passed through parts of the community. Such occurrences arenāt unknown in this part of the world.
But that just seems too easy an answer ÷ and it doesn't have the intrigue of other suggestions.
Consequently, I'm not convinced and until someone, like a legitimate chemist, can prove to me what the substance is, I think thereās more to it than just a brief rain.
Of course, my mother always said I had an overactive imagination. Must be all those books I read.
You draw your own conclusions. http://www.duncanbanner.com/viewarticle.php?id=2

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White Material Also Falls
From Skies Over OKC
From Danny L. Smith
12-23-2

Hey Jeff,
I read your story about the white stuff that fell on people cars in Duncan, (about 45 miles southwest of Oklahoma City) and thought I'd drop you a line to let you know it wasn't just Duncan, but here in Oklahoma City as well.
My car, all of my family member's cars, including a cousin in southeast Oklahoma whose car was covered as well.
I don't know what it was, but I do know it was everywhere. The best way to describe it is kind of like rain, mixed with a little bit of snow, mixed with a little mud. It wasn't just simple water or dirty rain that ran off of things. It had substance and its appearance and the way it stuck to things just seemed unnatural.
It's amazing that this stuff covered literally thousands and thousands of cars, and obviously many miles, but nothing has been said about it here in Oklahoma (in the media).
Thanks for your great coverage, and I hope others might write or at least start to question instead of just accepting. Sincerely,
Danny L. Smith

posted 01-01-2003 02:12 PM            

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts24.html
"Barium is a silvery-white metal found in nature. It occurs combined with other chemicals such as sulfur or carbon and oxygen. These combinations are called compounds. Barium compounds can also be produced by industry. What happens to barium when it enters the environment?

Barium gets into the air during the mining, refining, and production of barium compounds, and from the burning of coal and oil.
Some barium compounds dissolve easily in water and are found in lakes, rivers, and streams.
Barium is found in most soils and foods at low levels.
Fish and aquatic organisms accumulate barium.
How might I be exposed to barium?
Breathing very low levels in air, drinking water, and eating food.
Breathing higher levels in air while working in industries that make or use barium compounds.
Drinking water containing high levels of barium from natural sources.
Breathing air near barium mining or processing plants."

unquote
Or having an airplane fly over and dump it on you.

Quote
"The health effects of the different barium compounds depend on how well the compound dissolves in water. Barium compounds that do not dissolve well in water are not generally harmful and are often used by doctors for medical purposes.
Those barium compounds that dissolve well in water may cause harmful health effects in people. Ingesting high levels of barium compounds that dissolve well in water over the short term has resulted in

Difficulties in breathing
Increased blood pressure
Changes in heart rhythm
Stomach irritation
Brain swelling
Muscle weakness
Damage to the liver, kidney, heart, and spleen.
We don’t know the effects in people of ingesting low levels of barium over the long term. Animal studies have found increased blood pressure and changes in the heart from ingesting barium over a long time. We don’t know the effects of barium from breathing it or from touching it."

I see alot of people with these types of health problems, but I don't know that this is what is being sprayed, but it is possible because I work in a hospital where we see a lot of these same types of health problems.
MSLPINK