re: #513 Killgore Trout
I’ve seen that one a few times too. It doesn’t make sense. dumping liquid out of a helicopter, the rotors would just disperse it. There’s be no control.
Other reports have claimed “boiling water” was being dumped.
My bet’s on capsaicin, or something similar.
As for dispersal - that’s pretty much what you want, as long as the droplets remain large enough to fall on the crowd. The downwash would, in fact, help that to happen.