Word: dusted
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...first, meteorologists raised many objections; they doubted the rainfall statistics on which the theory was based, and they were sure that any dust particles that cause rainfall must come from the earth's surface, not from outer space. Bowen met the first objection by analyzing more precipitation statistics-including Japanese snowfall records that have been kept for 330 years. Most of the records supported his theory; none directly opposed...
Catching the meteoric dust particles on their way down from space was a far more difficult job. In 1958-59, Bowen got Australian air force jets to carry dust-collecting apparatus up as high as 45,000 ft. There they found plenty of dust, but higher flights were needed for rigid proof that the high-altitude dust had not merely been blown aloft from the surface of the earth...
...early this year, the U.S. Air Force came to Bowen's rescue. A pair of U-2s visiting Australia carried his dust filters on 16 cruises to 70,000 ft. over the Antarctic Ocean, far from land. The filters came back containing dust that could hardly have come from the ground. Some U-2 nights carried a special camera that photographed what looked like a thin layer of dust far up in the upper atmosphere...
Nowhere but Space. Bowen believes that the dust collected by the U-2s at 70,000 ft. could have come from nowhere but space. During meteor showers, he feels sure, the smallest meteoric particles hit the atmosphere softly and sink slowly toward earth. Larger meteors burn up, their smoke-fine debris sinking with the rest. The particles take about 30 days to reach the lower atmosphere, where they then turn clouds into rain...
...meteorologists are not yet convinced by Bowen's revolutionary theory, but there are few who still deride it rudely. Many are reserving judgment until the particles collected by the U-2s have been positively analyzed and identified as space dust. Then will come the additional job of proving that the space dust can and does cause rain. But Bowen and a growing army of believers are sure that this final proof is not far ahead...