Two months later a plague of Thrips Palmi, a pesticide resistant insect, is observed in the area. This spreads rapidly affecting corn, beans, squash, cucumbers and other crops. When questioned, the USA replies that the pilot had sprayed smoke to indicate his position. This is contradicted by the USA Federal Aviation Administration which knows of "no regulation calling for this practice".
In 1977 a released CIA document had admitted that it "maintained a clandestine anti-crop warfare research program targeted during the 1960s at a number of countries around the world".
