[stevenrace]

"The idea for these soft bombs apparently grew out of a training accident in souther California. Military aircraft were dropping chaff - hundres of metallic strips used to confuse enemy radar. An airplane released its chaff near a power switching station and many of the strips fell onto a power switching station, blacking out a large area of Orange County."

- Weapons of Mass Casualties and Terrorism Responce Handbook - Charles Stewart MD FACEP

https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZnXZfwWwgcC&pg=PA221&lpg=...

referencing a Boston Globe article: May 4th 1999 page A27

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I recall reading of another accident, but can't easily find the source.