Operation Popeye was a secret U.S. military project conducted from 1967 to 1972 during the Vietnam War. Its objective was to extend the monsoon season over the Ho Chi Minh Trail—a critical supply route for North Vietnamese forces—by artificially increasing rainfall through cloud seeding. The operation used silver iodide and lead iodide flares dispersed from specially equipped aircraft to stimulate precipitation in moisture-laden clouds. Over roughly five years, the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Sq