Robert, I have a large amount of research which you might find of interest – please feel free to contact me anytime at icewhale@gmail.com. If it helps, I can let you know that I have been in contact with those ICEWHALE crew members who were involved in these trials (mainly Colin) ever since tehe trials became public knowledge(1997). On a personal note, after spending years studying the scientific reports, which can be dry as the proverbial dust, I’d love to learn more about the conduct of these trials from someone who was there. That goes for you as well William.

Btw, the US authorities informed me last week that they are in the process of declassifying their 1975 DICE Trials report – hopefully we’ll have more of idea about those trials very soon.

Mike Kenner

And while we’re on the subject, why would she completely ignore another of Professor Spratt’s conclusions ‘There may have been some unquantifiable threat to health for a small number of individuals who had serious underlying disease and were particlarly susceptible to infection’?

Given the fact that, during my conversation with Professor Spratt in November 1998, he admitted that he had no idea of the numbers of suceptible individuals who were present in the trials area at the time, I feel it is a tad presumptive on your part to assume that this figure was so low as to be of little or no concern.

In fact, given the fact that repeated exposure to large bacterial aerosols is a known cause of alveolitis (ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis), it is highly likely that the numbers of those at risk from these field trials was much higher than either Prof Spratt or you imagine.

For my part, if there was a risk of even only one person suffering a pneumonia or sepsis as a result of the Lyme Bay Trials then that is something which should be highlighted, not dismissed as being of little concern.

I would also point out that, contrary to your assertion that Prof Spratt saw nothing sinister in the MOD failing to give him the relevant info re the 1975 DICE Trials, he was in fact, according to the producer who interviewed him, extremely concerned that vital information about previously unknown BW public area trials had been kept from him.

This is evident from his use of the word ‘hide’ in his statement to camera:
“…I think if the MOD is going to go to all the trouble of having an independent report they should show me all the documents. I think just to try and sort of hide them and not even tell me of their existence I think is not a very sensible way to behave.”

If you’ve had the chance to watch episode two of Top Secrets Revealed, you will have noticed that the 1975 DICE trials were not the only series of public area experiments which were kept back from Prof Spratt’s attention. He also was not informed about the 1968 Chiefs of Staff demonstration trials or the 1950-51 Westwood Trials which repeatedly exposed circa 250 factory workers to massive aerosols of the opportunistic pathogen – Serratia marcescens.

In the past few years, the further declassification of Porton documents have revealed more and more public area experiments which were kept from Prof Spratt’s eyes, most recently the 1968 Lyme Bay LIDAR Trials.

So much for the promise of open government!

And while we’re on the subject, why would she completely ignore another of Professor Spratt’s conclusions ‘There may have been some unquantifiable threat to health for a small number of individuals who had serious underlying disease and were particlarly susceptible to infection’?

Given the fact that, during my conversation with Professor Spratt in November 1998, he admitted that he had no idea of the numbers of suceptible individuals who were present in the trials area at the time, I feel it is a tad presumptive on your part to assume that this figure was so low as to be of little or no concern.

In fact, given the fact that repeated exposure to large bacterial aerosols is a known cause of alveolitis (ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis), it is highly likely that the numbers of those at risk from these field trials was much higher than either Prof Spratt or you imagine.

For my part, if there was a risk of even only one person suffering a pneumonia or sepsis as a result of the Lyme Bay Trials then that is something which should be highlighted, not dismissed as being of little concern.

I would also point out that, contrary to your assertion that Prof Spratt saw nothing sinister in the MOD failing to give him the relevant info re the 1975 DICE Trials, he was in fact, according to the producer who interviewed him, extremely concerned that vital information about previously unknown BW public area trials had been kept from him.

This is evident from his use of the word ‘hide’ in his statement to camera:
“…I think if the MOD is going to go to all the trouble of having an independent report they should show me all the documents. I think just to try and sort of hide them and not even tell me of their existence I think is not a very sensible way to behave.”

If you’ve had the chance to watch episode two of Top Secrets Revealed, you will have noticed that the 1975 DICE trials were not the only series of public area experiments which were kept back from Prof Spratt’s attention. He also was not informed about the 1968 Chiefs of Staff demonstration trials or the 1950-51 Westwood Trials which repeatedly exposed circa 250 factory workers to massive aerosols of the opportunistic pathogen – Serratia marcescens.

In the past few years, the further declassification of Porton documents have revealed more and more public area experiments which were kept from Prof Spratt’s eyes, most recently the 1968 Lyme Bay LIDAR Trials.

So much for the promise of open government!

You are right about trust, but I think the point I was making was that at that time, it was engrained into all of us to trust Authority.

I for one am glad we don’t still blindly trust, especially governments. But then, it was the way we were.

Incidentally, I have prototyped a page at http://zeltus.eu/mre/index.html about this – I hope it might be of some interest