The unexplained yellow powder that mysteriously appeared in mountain communities last Dec. 7 and again in February has prompted The Alpenhorn News to further investigation of the appearance of these aerial trails that many believe are the cause of the increase in respiratory problems plaguing mountain communities.

Chemtrails, the visible vapor streams left by low-altitude chemical spraying, have been under scrutiny for more than seven years now, since the first appearances of the heavy white streamers in the sky in early 1999. Despite the efforts of investigators, very little information has been released to the public.

Locally, the issue surfaced in early December when many mountain residents observed a fine, slippery yellow powder on their cars and around the exterior of their homes.

Gretchen Sherman, who lives in Cedar Glen, said she was concerned enough about the situation that she notified the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the agency sent an inspector to her home. The man took a sample, she said, and tentatively identified the powder as cedar pollen.

However, a biologist told this newspaper that December is not the season when cedar pollen normally appears, and that when it does appear, in the spring, it does not “explode.” Several witnesses said they had seen a yellow cloud “exploding” in the skies over the Lake Arrowhead area prior to the appearance of the mysterious yellow dust or powder.

Government officials have repeatedly dodged the questions of concerned citizens and, when pressed, have said the appearance of powder in other areas is nothing more than pollen. People continue to become ill and high levels of chemicals continue to show up in random testing of soil and water supplies, according to informed sources.

In the beginning, the activities of chemtrail investigators were considered nothing more than speculation. Scientists connected to these efforts were considered to be conspiracy theorists. But with the increasingly visible presence of chemtrails, many contend that the time has come for speculation to lead into knowledge, as theory – and fears – are apparently becoming reality.

Witnesses have told this newspaper that they have seen and photographed KC 135s and KC 10s, stripped of any military markings and outfitted with what appears to be a “spraying device.” Airport personnel and pilots have confirmed for this reporter that some commercial airliners have also been outfitted to leave long-lasting chemtrails. One former Air Force pilot, who wished not to be named, said, “Yeah, we have them, but were not supposed to talk about it.”

The existence of equipment capable of producing aerosol spraying has been demonstrated, and senior Air Force officials acknowledge this capability, though they say its purpose is pest control and fuel dumping.

But nonmilitary sources say there are two major reasons for the use of such equipment – weather modification and biochemical warfare. As more information is discovered the two are appearing more like a single cause.

Community after community continues to report that hundreds of people are becoming ill at the same time, and these reports usually follow on the heels of times of heavy chemtrail activity. In San Bernardino Mountains communities, three physicians, all of whom asked not to be identified, have reported an increasing number of patients being seen for similar illness since December.

Persistent hacking coughs, upper respiratory and intestinal distress, pneumonia, extreme fatigue, lethargy, dizziness, disorientation, splitting headaches, elevated arthritis symptoms and unexplainable nosebleeds are just a few of the symptoms these doctors have described.

These doctors have said they are seeing larger numbers of patients with these complaints during or within days after the times that the physicians themselves have observed a larger number of chemtrails in the skies above mountain communities.

Ed Burrows, a pharmacist who lives in Crestline, told The Alpenhorn News that he is seeing similar signs of illness in himself. Since early December he has been suffering from a respiratory ailment that has includes a “gooey phlegm” that, despite his best efforts, he has been unable to relieve. Burrows said the issue is raising “high concern” for him that his health may be “jeopardized.” Burrows said he “feels that it is directly related” to recent chemtrail activity.

“Our government’s refusal to level with the people indicates that whatever it is they are polluting our environment with must be dangerous and/or unhealthy. There is no need to be secretive if what you are doing is beneficial,” he said.

In an e-mail he sent to this reporter, Burrows wrote, “As the former owner and pharmacist of the Lake Gregory Pharmacy for more than two decades, this is the first time in those 22 years I’ve witnessed so many in our community suffering with respiratory ailments with no apparent cause… Edward Burrows Pharm. D, RPh.”

Many respected researchers are attributing these illnesses to toxic chemicals used in government-sponsored weather-modification programs already in effect and intended to minimize the effects of serious weather events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Senate Bill 517, proposed by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), would create a platform for future legislation that would allow for a nationwide weather-modification advisory and research board to make large-scale chemical alterations in our atmosphere. Authoritative sources say this is already occurring.

High levels of barium, aluminum and quartz have already been found in areas that have been reporting heavy chemtrail activity. Those substances, though natural minerals, have never been detected in those areas previously. For example, in portions of Canada, one of the first countries to raise awareness of aerosol spraying, barium and aluminum levels were found to be seven times above normal, according to media accounts published in a Vancouver newspaper in 1999.

Since publishing the story last week The Alpenhorn News has received requests for information from organizations as far away as Chicago. Many of these organizations have said they are having difficulty getting the news media to publish stories regarding the kinds of chemtrails that have been recently spotted above the San Bernardino Mountains.