{"id":110760,"date":"2018-12-13T16:20:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=110760"},"modified":"2018-12-13T16:29:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:29:16","slug":"110760","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=110760","title":{"rendered":"Why have there been massive plumes of chaff over Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and now Maine and Florida?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-110766\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM-1024x467.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM-1024x467.png 1024w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM-300x137.png 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-13-at-3.28.00-PM.png 1438w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Now Massive Plumes Of Chaff Are Lighting Up Radar Over Maine and Florida Too<\/h1>\n<h3>The clouds of radar-reflective countermeasures appeared over the states just two days after a similar mysterious incident occurred in the Midwest.<\/h3>\n<p>BY JOSEPH TREVITHICK<br \/>\nThe War Zone<\/p>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph first-paragraph\">\n<p>Two days after a huge cloud of chaff\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25451\/a-west-virginia-air-guard-c-130h-was-responsible-for-massive-chaff-cloud-over-midwest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lit up weather radar<\/a>\u00a0covering portions Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky, as well as social media, more plumes have now appeared over Maine and Florida. We have no official confirmation as of yet, but the formations look very similar in composition to the one that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25438\/huge-chaff-cloud-that-lit-up-radars-as-it-drifted-across-the-midwest-remains-a-mystery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">developed in the Midwest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"related-inline\">\n<div class=\"related-inline-inner\">\n<div class=\"items\">\n<div class=\"item\"><span class=\"title\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25451\/a-west-virginia-air-guard-c-130h-was-responsible-for-massive-chaff-cloud-over-midwest\">A WEST VIRGINIA AIR GUARD C-130H WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MASSIVE CHAFF CLOUD OVER MIDWEST<\/a><\/span><span class=\"byline\">By Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway<\/span><span class=\"text\">Posted in\u00a0<a class=\"channel\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\">THE WAR ZONE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"item\"><span class=\"title\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25438\/huge-chaff-cloud-that-lit-up-radars-as-it-drifted-across-the-midwest-remains-a-mystery\">HUGE CHAFF CLOUD THAT LIT UP RADARS AS IT DRIFTED ACROSS THE MIDWEST REMAINS A MYSTERY<\/a><\/span><span class=\"byline\">By Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway<\/span><span class=\"text\">Posted in\u00a0<a class=\"channel\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\">THE WAR ZONE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"item\"><span class=\"title\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/21461\/lets-talk-about-that-mysterious-rocket-launch-over-whidbey-island-photo-from-washington\">LET&#8217;S TALK ABOUT THAT MYSTERIOUS &#8216;ROCKET LAUNCH OVER WHIDBEY ISLAND&#8217; PHOTO (UPDATED)<\/a><\/span><span class=\"byline\">By Tyler Rogoway<\/span><span class=\"text\">Posted in\u00a0<a class=\"channel\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\">THE WAR ZONE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"item\"><span class=\"title\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/18473\/faa-recordings-deepen-mystery-surrounding-ufo-over-oregon-that-sent-f-15s-scrambling\">YOU NEED TO HEAR THESE FAA TAPES FROM THAT OREGON UFO INCIDENT THAT SENT F-15S SCRAMBLING<\/a><\/span><span class=\"byline\">By Tyler Rogoway<\/span><span class=\"text\">Posted in\u00a0<a class=\"channel\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\">THE WAR ZONE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"item\"><span class=\"title\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/17987\/usaf-is-jamming-gps-in-the-western-u-s-for-largest-ever-red-flag-air-war-exercise\">USAF IS JAMMING GPS IN THE WESTERN U.S. FOR LARGEST EVER RED FLAG AIR WAR EXERCISE<\/a><\/span><span class=\"byline\">By Tyler Rogoway<\/span><span class=\"text\">Posted in\u00a0<a class=\"channel\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\">THE WAR ZONE<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>The first reports of the apparent chaff plumes in Maine began to appear on social media around 5:30 PM EST on Dec. 12, 2018. Early on, four distinct clouds were visible, but these had blended together into a larger blob with a peak length of more than 100 miles by 7:45 PM. The huge cloud was moving southwest and looked like it could easily drift into New Hampshire and beyond.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Again if not chaff some neat areas of snow moving South from Maine. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zkbtkgU8aD\">pic.twitter.com\/zkbtkgU8aD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud835\udd44\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd63\ud835\udd54 \ud835\udd41\ud835\udd63. \u2744\ufe0f\u26c8 (@WxmanFranz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WxmanFranz\/status\/1073006122657857536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Today we are seeing this in Maine. Everyone is calling this Chaff. It seems like a lot of Chaff on radar lately. Odd. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hz3woSnL48\">pic.twitter.com\/hz3woSnL48<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rob Herman (@rwherman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rwherman\/status\/1073009593842888704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Still on the NWS radar right now. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kAb7dB5bJY\">https:\/\/t.co\/kAb7dB5bJY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>cc <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWSGray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NWSGray<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tIvzgHqHWH\">pic.twitter.com\/tIvzgHqHWH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The tired one (@MaineSurfCaster) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaineSurfCaster\/status\/1073000781639499776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Military chaff strikes again? Looks like it in Maine this time. These are definitely NOT snow squalls. Correlation coefficients are way too low. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mewx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#mewx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AUfXjKtmMi\">pic.twitter.com\/AUfXjKtmMi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mitch (@VermonsterWx) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VermonsterWx\/status\/1072980467450818560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s unclear exactly when on Dec. 12, 2018 that the incident in Florida occurred. The plume developed over the Florida Keys and appeared to move northward.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Appears to be <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Chaff?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Chaff<\/a> also showing up on radar in SoFL <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tkDDrNW6F9\">pic.twitter.com\/tkDDrNW6F9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Gloninger, CCM, CBM (@ChrisGloninger) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisGloninger\/status\/1073018818686009344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So far, there are next to no other details available for any of these new incidents. The official Twitter account for the National Weather Service station between Gray and Portland, Maine issued an assessment that the formations in that area on the radar were very likely chaff, but there have been no reports as to what type of aircraft might have been involved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Definitely looks like chaff. High reflectivity, low CC, and high ZDR are pretty typical of chaff.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NWS Gray (@NWSGray) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWSGray\/status\/1072984718000443392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Maine Air National Guard has just one flying unit, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/101st_Air_Refueling_Wing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">101st Air Refueling Wing<\/a>, which flies\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/14007\/usaf-breathing-new-life-into-ancient-kc-135-tankers-with-this-new-glass-cockpit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KC-135R Stratotankers<\/a>\u00a0and is based at Bangor Air National Guard Base in the city of the same name, situated to the northeast of where the plumes first developed. However, the KC-135Rs are not equipped to dispense chaff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph\">\n<p>As such, another type of aircraft from another state&#8217;s Air National Guard, or an active U.S. military unit, released the chaff over Maine. This was the case in with the chaff cloud that first appeared over Illinois on Dec. 10, 2018, and later drifted into Indiana and Kentucky. As it turned out, a West Virginia Air National Guard C-130H Hercules airlifter flying through the area\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25451\/a-west-virginia-air-guard-c-130h-was-responsible-for-massive-chaff-cloud-over-midwest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was responsible<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In that case, the initial release was over a Military Operations Area (MOA), a piece of airspace U.S. military aircraft can set aside for training purposes. This appears to have been the case again in Maine, with the chaff seeming to develop first over the Condor 1 and 2 MOAs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"fig1\" class=\"figure \" tabindex=\"1\" data-pos=\"0\">\n<div class=\"figure-wrapper\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-image\" src=\"http:\/\/imagesvc.timeincapp.com\/v3\/foundry\/image\/?q=60&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fthe-drive-staging%2Fmessage-editor%252F1544664417667-condor.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"credit\">VIA\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/skyvector.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SKYVECTOR.COM<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p>A map showing the Condor 1 and 2 MOAs, the trapezoidal areas outlined in red, in Maine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/14129\/fleeing-f-5-fighters-devastated-airports-and-packed-hangars-as-irma-slams-caribbean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Southern Florida<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/13921\/us-air-force-b-1-bombers-are-hunting-drug-smugglers-from-key-west\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Florida Keys<\/a>\u00a0are full of various active and reserve component units that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/19261\/navy-f-a-18f-super-hornet-belonging-to-vfa-231-black-lions-crashed-off-key-west\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conduct regular training exercises<\/a>\u00a0in the area, so plumes in this region are not particularly uncommon. The Gulf of Mexico is also a massive playground for military combat aircraft to conduct air training events and has some of the biggest MOAs anywhere in the country. Another set of chaff clouds were recently visible in the same general area on Nov. 28, 2018, as seen below.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More chaff releases today! Really impressive presentation with strong mid-level westerlies. Our radar went was tricked and kicked into precip mode (VCP going from 35 -&gt; 215 in top left) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jEqAapzz7G\">pic.twitter.com\/jEqAapzz7G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; William Churchill (@ChurchillWx) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChurchillWx\/status\/1068001277236396032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Still, it seems unusual for so many large chaff clouds to keep popping up in so many places around the country in such a short timespan. They&#8217;ve all generally been unusually persistent, too, typically lasting multiple hours, before finally disappearing from the radar screens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleFragment paragraph last-paragraph\">\n<p>We have already reached out to the National Guard Bureau, but at the time of writing, we have not received any additional information about this new incident over Maine. We&#8217;re reaching out to additional commands regarding the plume in Florida, as well.<\/p>\n<p>We will be sure to update this story if and when new details become available.<\/p>\n<p><em>Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@<span class=\"skimlinks-unlinked\">gmail.com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25460\/now-massive-plumes-of-chaff-are-lighting-up-radar-over-maine-and-florida-too\">http:\/\/www.thedrive.com\/the-war-zone\/25460\/now-massive-plumes-of-chaff-are-lighting-up-radar-over-maine-and-florida-too<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}