Scientists are digging for solid reason why mass deaths of birds happened in Italy, Sweden and at least three US states.
Blue lines show Earth's northern magnetic field and the magnetic north pole in an artist's rendering.
Scientists have proffered plenty of theories to explain the mass bird die-offs in Europe and the US, but two stand out; the rapid shift of the Magnetic North Pole and a US military test of poison gas.
Preliminary tests on up to 8,000 of dead turtle doves in Italy shows that the birds could have been killed by poisoning or Hypoxia.
Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, is known to bring about confusion and illness in animals. It is also a common precursor to altitude sickness.
Scientists have also brought to the fore the issue of a gigantic magnetic field, known as the Magnetic North Pole, arguing that the poles' swinging toward Russia may be the primary cause of the mass deaths as it plays havoc with birds' innate navigational system, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Just as scientists turn the spotlight on the rapid movement of the Magnetic Pole, a chilling report on January 4 by the Foreign Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of Russia sent shockwaves in the United States.
The report has cast a harsh spotlight on the mysterious murder of the United States top expert in biological and chemical weapons, John P. Wheeler, whose body was discovered dead on December 31 in a garbage truck in the state of Delaware.
According to the report, the 66-year old Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force from 2005-2008-under the presidency of George W. Bush -- had threatened to divulge the details of a US Military test of poison gas that led to deaths of animals in Arkansas.
Wheeler, who gained reputation for his writing of one of the most important manuals on the effectiveness of biological and chemical weapons in the US, was recruited in 2009 as a consultant by the MITRE Corporation.
MITRE is a not-for-profit national technology resource that provides systems engineering, research and development and IT support in the US.
The company's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development is the leading creator of the computer command and control systems used by the US Air Force in their fleet of aerial spraying planes, the GRU report continued.
"These aerial spraying planes are based at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, and over the past few months, they have been involved with 'test dispersants' of poisonous gasses in the Afghanistan War Theater using chemical weapons stocks obtained from Iraq and held at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, also located in Arkansas," said the report.
Pine Bluff Arsenal installation located in Jefferson County, Arkansas, and is believed to have stockpiled an estimated 63,000 metric tones of the poisonous gas "Phosgene" that will cause the lungs and respiratory system to explode, the report added.
According to the report, Wheeler wanted to expose the secrecy behind the transport of Iraqi Phosgene poisonous gas aboard a US Air Force KC-767 tanker aircraft, which took off from Little Rock Air Force Base in late December and was bound to Afghanistan.
"Shortly after takeoff, the plane confronted with a 'critical malfunction' of its aerial spraying computer directed command and control system over central Arkansas causing the deaths of thousands of red-wing blackbirds,” the GRU report said.
The mysterious deaths of animals first emerged last week in the US state of Arkansas, where thousands of red-winged blackbirds dropped dead to the ground.
As of Friday, millions of fish and crabs have also washed-up in the US, Brazil, England and New Zealand, compelling experts and scientists to peruse more deeply into the dilemma to decide on whether poison gas or the shift in the Earth's North Magnetic Pole caused the die-offs.
HA/AGB/MGH
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