Green Haze by Robert P. Fitton

A seasoned reporter, Roy Garrison is drawn to the California high desert by a local woman's bizarre claim of weird happenings on the state highway. Garrison is soon fleeing for this life as he pursues the lead, and soon finds himself trapped within the machinations of the Defense Security Agency. Across the country in Florida a couple falls into the same project but from another angle. On the run with an old friend, Garrison links up with the Florida couple. The intense espionage, double-crossing and government overthrow swirls into an unexpected finale, leaving behind a wake of death and destruction.