# attack of the cropdusters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 25, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663 "2001-10-25T23:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/1 "2001-10-25T23:22:06Z")
Ok, I wake up the other day for work and ABC news is talking about two separate incidents where cropdusters have sprayed people. One was a few ships on the Mississipi River and the other over a Coast Guard base. I KNOW I heard this story and I know it has been mentioned by other on this board. So, I go into work and I search CNN, AP, ABC, and Reuters. Not ONE mention of it anywhere, not then and not since by any news organization. I find that very bizarre. Now, please don’t paint me as a conspiracist but I can only think of two options here. 1. It was found to be not true and everyone dropped it like a hot potato. If that was the case, I would think that the other agencies that didn’t report it would sooo happy to report how the other agency screwed up by reporting something unsubstantiated. 2. It was true and has been hushed up to prevent a panic until such time that an investigation can be concluded? Can anyone offer anything to substantiate what happened one way or the other? PS: Mods, If this isn’t appropriate here, feel free to move to GQ. I have a feeling though that people might not agree on what happened so I decided to place here first. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/2 "2001-10-25T23:27:57Z")
Somewhere, I saw a blurb which mentioned that at least one of those incidents was a case of an actual… crop dusting. That’s likely as close to a retraction as you’re going to get. Remember, according to CNN, the State Department was blown up and the Mall was set afire in Washington, DC on the 11th of September, too. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/3 "2001-10-25T23:34:28Z")
Not sure if you’ll find this totally satisfactory, but [this article](http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0110/25/m04.html) appears to put the crop dusting mystery at rest. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/4 "2001-10-25T23:36:47Z")
I saw reports about it in the NY Times and the LA Times. [http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000085081oct25.story?coll=la-headlines-nation](http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000085081oct25.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/5 "2001-10-25T23:40:41Z")
From [CNN](http://www.cnn.com): [Samples tested after crop-duster sprays boats](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/22/inv.crop.duster.towboat.ap/index.html) (10/22/2001): > [@](#): > > Crew members who were aboard a Mississippi River towboat when a crop-duster sprayed it with an unknown substance have reported no health problems but were given an antibiotic as a precaution, health officials said Sunday… > > “This was a deliberate act by a crop-duster – this was no accident,” said Kent Buckley of the Bolivar County Emergency Management Agency. > > Buckley said officials suspect the sprayed substance was sodium chlorate, used to defoliate cotton crops. Buckley said that sodium chlorate is similar to salt water and is not dangerous. [Officials: Crop duster dropped fertilizer, not anthrax](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/24/cropduster.towboat.ap/index.html) (10/24/2001): > [@](#): > > A mysterious material dropped by a crop-dusting plane over a tiny Coast Guard post on the Mississippi River was fertilizer – not anthrax, authorities said Tuesday. The second report also mentions the towboat spraying incident, and closes with these words: > [@](#): > > State officials said they consider the towboat an unlikely terrorism target and point out that 147 accidental flyovers were reported last year. (emphasis added) Lord knows, not a good time for a crop duster pilot to be getting sloppy. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attack-of-the-cropdusters/89663/6 "2001-10-25T23:59:42Z")
Wow, that was quick. Thanks to everyone for finding what I was unable to. I really expected there to be more coverage, either way. Yes, very bad time indeed to make a cropdusting mistake.