“Forever chemicals” don’t die — they just regroup. Only instead of regrouping in hell, as that old Marines saying goes, it’s in the oceans, where such compounds were dumped for decades.
For years, Times environmental reporter and Pulitzer finalist Rosanna Xia has been covering the legacy of forever chemical DDT, a pesticide once applied to humans as innocuously as hairspray and yardhose water. In 2020 she broke the story that barrels of DDT’s toxic waste, last sent to the ocean floor decades ago by its biggest manufacturer, Montrose, were closer to Southern California’s shores than previously thought. Her ongoing investigative work is now the subject of a documentary, “Out of Plain Sight,” which Xia co-directed with Daniel Straub. (Full disclosure: It was produced by L.A. Times Studios, an affiliate company.)
The film is a fleet, urgent-sounding dispatch, centering on Xia herself as an intrepid factfinder roving the affected coastline, dropping in on scientists, oceanographers, biologists and wildlife experts as she tries to piece together the effects of half a million barrels of forgotten DDT, banned in 1972 but still having an impact on an already fragile ecosystem and the descendants of those exposed to it. Her inspiration, quoted up top and glimpsed in archival footage, is Rachel Carson, whose seminal 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” spurred enough public outcry against chemical pesticides to lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Carson’s galvanizing alarm was, paradoxically, an absence, seen in declining bird populations (hence the “silent” of her title). Xia’s clarion call, meanwhile, starts with robot-captured images of leaking barrels on the ocean floor. That’s the beginning of the sea-to-land food chain that starts with DDT-ridden marine life. Microplastics are the current bete noire and rightly so, but we’re still in the dark about the causal calamity of a past era’s chemical polluting. It’s one thing if a company like Montrose, now defunct, once believed no one would notice their massive DDT-waste-dumping operation. It’s another, the movie argues, if we choose not to wrestle with the environmental ramifications being felt today.
“Out of Plain Sight” strives to be more cinematically alive than the standard talking-head-laden documentary. A brief history of DDT, from the corporate excitement over its invention to protesting, is given a snazzy split-screen archival montage treatment, sourced from educational films, newsreels and interviews but scored to the Zombies’ “I Don’t Want to Know” as a cheeky touch. And all of Xia’s interviews are filmed in the field in a vérité style, a nod to journalism in action, from UC San Diego labs and mammal rescue operations treating cancer-riven sea lions to microbiologist David Valentine’s attempts to collect samples from those time-bomb-like barrels of sludge.
Though we need movies that demystify journalism (and Xia is an appealing on-camera correspondent), that aspect is less interesting than the propulsive portrait of a dedicated, multi-pronged effort to expose, understand and hopefully clean up a still-viable threat. “Out of Plain Sight” doesn’t need to be earthshaking filmmaking to relay a valuable ongoing story about a hidden nightmare for all of us. It brings to mind another famous saying, just as applicable to DDT’s longevity as the one about the Marines, from William Faulkner: “The past is never dead — it’s not even past.”
TWZ reached out to AFSOC after @GansoConABomba on X called attention to this overlooked and somewhat peculiar aspect of the OA-1K in a post on Monday (seen below). The discussion on the X post had users positing what the commercially off-the-shelf sight was intended to do. Now we have a definitive answer to that question.
“As you are aware, the Skyraider II will be used for close air support, precision strike, and armed ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance],” an AFSOC spokesperson told TWZ. “As such, the sight has been included in the OA-1K design since inception and installed on every OA-1K.”
“The EOTech holographic sight is used before flight to align [the] pilots [sic] helmet mounting cueing system to the aircraft position,” they added.
A stock picture of an OA-1K Skyraider II. USAF
OA-1K pilots reportedly use Thales’ popular Scorpion helmet-mounted display, which has already been integrated on a number of other tactical aircraft in U.S. service. The system puts datalink and sensor data, including positions of friendly and enemy forces, and more, along with flight data, right in front of their eyes.
In modern tactical combat aircraft where members of the crew wear helmet-mounted displays, the preflight alignment process can involve calibrating positioning via the aircraft’s built-in heads-up display (HUD). However, the two-seat OA-1K’s tandem cockpit, though full of digital displays, has no HUD.
A look inside the cockpit of an OA-1K. The EOTech sight is just barely visible on the right side of the dashboard in the front seat. L3Harris
Especially in the absence of a fixed HUD, there is also the possibility that the EOTech optic might also provide an emergency back-up option for aiming weapons. However, this would only be doable when employing gun pods or other munitions in an unguided mode, and its placement is far from ideal for that role.
“Well it does shoot things,” the official Air Tractor AT-802U account on X wrote yesterday in response to @GansoConABomba’s post. AT-802U is Air Tractor’s in-house designation for the special mission version of the AT-802 that serves as the basis for the OA-1K.
A screen grab of the response from the official Air Tractor AT-802U account on X to @GansoConABomba’s post. X screen capture
It is interesting to note that this isn’t the first time a standard, off-the-shelf EOTech XPS-series sight has appeared in the cockpit of an AFSOC aircraft. Back in 2018, TWZ noticed that these optics were in use on now-retired AC-130W Stinger II gunships, mounted on the left side of the cockpit, next to the pilot.
The exact function the EOTechs played on the AC-130W is unclear. It is possible the reason was, in part, similar to why the sights are now found on the OA-1Ks. Older model AC-130s had traditional HUDs in this position in the cockpit, but the Stinger II did not. TWZ has separately reported on how AC-130W pilots also used Scorpion helmet-mounted displays, and they would have similarly needed to align them before flight.
A view inside the cockpit of an AC-130W showing the pilot wearing a helmet-mounted display. The EOTech sight is also just visible at bottom left. USAFA better view of the EOTech sight mounted in the cockpit of an AC-130W. USAF capture
The video below shows AC-130W operations over Syria circa 2018, and includes views of the EOTech sight mounted in the cockpit.
AC-130W pilots could also have used the EOTechs in the same role as the HUD on earlier AC-130s, to help line up the aircraft against targets on the ground during pylon turn attack runs using the guns firing out of the left side of the fuselage. As we noted in our report back in 2018, the pilots of the Air Force’s very first fixed-wing gunships, the Vietnam War-era AC-47s, used World War II-era reflector gunsights mounted in a window on the left side of the cockpit to aim at targets on the ground.
A look at the reflector gunsight in the cockpit of an AC-47 gunship. San Diego Air and Space Museum
As another interesting aside, for many years, Air Force F-15 squadrons mounted scopes designed for hunting rifles in the cockpits below their windscreens to provide a ‘poor man’s’ long-range visual identification capability.
In a way, the EOTech sight on the OA-1K also evokes the aircraft’s namesake, the Korean and Vietnam War-era Douglas Skyraider. Development of the piston-engined Skyraider began at the tail-end of World War II, and they were fitted with a reflector gun sight as was the standard for tactical aircraft at the time. AFSOC’s new Skyraider IIs already have the distinction of being the first tail-dragging tactical combat aircraft anywhere in U.S. military service in decades.
We now know the OA-1Ks all have lowly rifle sights in their cockpits, albeit primarily to help cue up much more modern helmet-mounted displays.
Married at First Sight UK couple Leisha and Reiss have confirmed they are no longer together after the groom decided to end their marriage following the final vows
22:26, 13 Nov 2025Updated 22:31, 13 Nov 2025
Married at First Sight UK turned emotional during the reunion special(Image: MAFS)
The E4 reality show, which has become one of the most talked-about dating experiments on telly, has kept viewers hooked for ten weeks.
One couple who’ve had a rollercoaster journey throughout the series are Leisha and Reiss.
The bride even found herself in hot water with co-stars Leah and Leigh after she shared a smooch with the latter during a day out with the cast.
Despite their turbulent time on the TV show, the couple made it to the final vows where they had to decide whether to stay together or part ways.
During their final vows, the couple voiced their worries about whether their relationship was robust enough to last, reports OK!.
To add to the drama, Leisha had already confessed her love for Reiss, but he was moving at a slower pace and chose not to reciprocate.
No one expected Reiss to commit to Leisha at the final ceremony, but he shocked everyone by agreeing that their marriage was far from over.
After a moment of uncertainty, they both confirmed that they wanted to continue their marriage beyond the experiment.
However, it seems the couple couldn’t make things work in the real world. During the first part of the eagerly awaited reunion on Thursday (November 13) night, Leisha broke down as she confessed she still loves Reiss.
Just before reuniting with her fellow castmates, Leisha confessed: “When we left the experiment, I was worried that I was more into the marriage than he was but we both worked hard to make it work.”
Reiss explained to the camera: “Since leaving the experiment, Leisha came down to see me and then I went up to Scotland.
“We had some cracking times and she is a beautiful girl inside and out but sadly we couldn’t make things work. I’ve not seen Leisha since it ended.”
An emotional Leisha couldn’t hold back her tears as she admitted: “I am devastated that my married with Reiss hasn’t worked out because I still love Reiss and I think about him everyday.”
She added: “So right now I’m feeling really sad because I really wanted it to work and I put my heart and soul into it and it just wasn’t reciprocated.”
Married at First Sight UK is available to stream on Channel 4
Ofcom has received more than 100 complaints from Married At First Sight viewers over the way groom Ashley was treated during his time on the hit E4 reality series
13:14, 05 Nov 2025Updated 13:14, 05 Nov 2025
Ofcom has received more than 100 complaints from Married At First Sight fans over the way a groom was treated by experts on the hit E4 show(Image: Channel 4)
Ofcom has received more than 100 complaints from Married At First Sight fans over the way a groom was treated. Earlier in this series of the hit E4 reality show. viewers watched as midwife Grace ‘tied the knot’ with Ashley but she was visibly not very keen from the start.
The couple made it past the initial wedding stage of the experiment, but various issues kept cropping up as they tried to embark on their new relationship and it all ended after one final argument that took place at a dinner party.
She added: “I expect you to act like a grown man capable of self-control. Sponsored by Canesten Duo.” The pair have been notably absent at various points within the series, and in the end, Ashley removed his wedding band when he decided that ‘couldn’t do anymore‘ for her without her taking issue with it as she accused him of ‘twisting’ everything.
But viewers have taken issue with the way that experts Mel Schilling, Paul C Brunson and Charlene Douglas seemingly enabled Grace’s behaviour during her time on camera. A spokesperson for Ofcom confirmed: “Complaints related to the experts allegedly enabling Grace’s treatment of Ashley.” In total, the regulator received 166 complaints from angry viewers.
It comes just one day after Grace took to social media to hit out at her ex regarding their final argument. She said: “I expect you to accept no for an answer. I expect you to prioritise my discomfort over your desire for sex. I expect you to act like a grown man capable of self-control. Sponsored by Canesten Duo.”
Things went from bad to worse for the couple during Wife Swap week, when Ashley admitted that he was ‘happier’ when his bride was not around. On the verge of tears, he explained: “I’d hate to hurt Grace’s feelings. I just feel like I can’t give any more to this. So I have to be selfish and put myself first. Grace then admitted: “I would have really liked if this had worked out I think we recognise now there was never anyway it was going to (work). But yeah, you do know that deep down.”
When viewers first met Ashley and Grace, she refused to accept a kiss on the lips when they were pronounced as husband and wife. Things got even more heated between the pair at the dinner following the wedding, when Ashley admitted that he had been raised with ‘old-fashioned’ morals and believed that a man should be the breadwinner. Grace was visibly shocked at this revelation, and in a confessional, she fumed: “God, here we go!”
Later on, Grace’s friend Georgina interrogated Ashley over his outlook on life and when he suggested he was not necessarily a feminist, she raged that someone like that was not going to be a match for Grace.
She said: “My advice was, she wants to know you respect her.” She then relayed her concerns to Grace, but insisted she had managed to warm to Ashley by explaining to him just what she thought a feminist was. This whole scene did not go down well with some viewers either, with one writing: “Grace & her friends seem like the type to bring about their own misery,” and another slamming it as the ‘most insufferable conversation’ they had ever heard.
Viewers will have to wait to see just how things pan out between Ashley and Grace on the next episode, but the trailer for next week teased that things might not be looking so good.
In a short clip, Grace raged: “Every now and then he says something, and it’s like ‘Do you know how that sounds?!'”
