We came across several posts on X and Facebook claiming that Hurricane Milton was caused by man-made weather machines linked to the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP).
Most of these posts reference a video that supposedly captures the calm before the storm – showing a beachside horizon filled with ominous low-lying clouds, reminiscent of a scene from a sci-fi, Armageddon-esque blockbuster. Additionally, the posts include pixelated graphics that claim to explain HAARP’s methodology, attempting to mislead viewers into believing that the research project is responsible for these unusual cloud formations.
Why are people harping on HAARP?
HAARP has long been a consistent target for climate conspiracy theorists. Over the years, it has been at the centre of various claims that attribute natural disasters to this research project. This is not the first time that Black Dot Research has encountered misinformation and disinformation surrounding HAARP. In 2023, for example, we debunked a claim circulating on a popular Telegram channel that blamed HAARP for the earthquakes in Gaziantep, Turkiye.
Much of the sceptism and conspiracy around the programme can be traced back to its origins. HAARP was originally operated by the United States Air Force from its inception in 1990 until 2014 when the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) took over the project. This military association has fuelled speculation and mistrust, leading many to believe that the programme could be involved in nefarious activities beyond its stated purpose of ionospheric research. The shift in management to a university may not have fully quelled these conspiracy theories, as the programme’s complex scientific goals continue to be misunderstood or misrepresented in popular discourse.
The scientific programme run by UAF aims to understand the ionosphere – a part of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This region sits roughly 80 to 640 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, and is often described as being “right at the edge of space”. Satellites generally sit in this layer of the atmosphere, and having a comprehensive understanding of the ionosphere is important for telecommunications and global navigation satellite systems – core services we rely on in our daily lives.
To achieve its research goals, HAARP utilises a high-power, high frequency transmitter known as the Ionospheric Research Instrument which can emit 3.6 megawatts of radio waves into the upper atmosphere. According to UAF, these radio waves specifically target the ionosphere and do not interact with the lower levels of the atmosphere that produce weather, namely the troposphere and the stratosphere.
This distinction has been corroborated by meteorological experts over the years, including Professor Steven Siems, co-chair of World Meteorological Organisation’s Expert Team on Weather Modification. When asked by RMIT Australia’s FactLab about similar claims in 2023, Professor Siems clarified that HAARP’s activities do not impact weather patterns, as its radio waves do not affect the layers of the atmosphere that produce weather. These expert assessments provide a clear scientific basis that counters the conspiracy theories linking HAARP to extreme weather events.
How did the ominous clouds come about?
We ran a reverse image search of the clip circulating on social media and traced it back to a Facebook post from 2021. The video’s description identifies the skyline as an Asperitas cloud formation captured at Fort Walton Beach in Florida, USA. This unique cloud type is characterised by its undulating, wave-like appearance, resembling an ocean surface. Moreover, the description on the Facebook post does not allude to a weather event such as a hurricane, contrary to the speculation in the earlier posts discussed.
The Asperitas cloud formation was first recorded in Iowa in 2006 and was officially included in the International Cloud Atlas (the World Meteorological Organisation’s international guide to the classification of clouds) in 2015.
While research on this cloud formation is still ongoing, some scientists hypothesise that Asperitas clouds are associated with the aftermath of convective thunderstorms, and are a natural atmospheric phenomenon.
Is it possible that HAARP is responsible for a hurricane?
Hurricanes are a subset of tropical cyclones that occur primarily over the Atlantic Ocean or the eastern Pacific Ocean. Tropical cyclones are storms that a formed by unstable air-pressure systems within the troposphere, which extends up to about 10 kilometres from the Earth’s surface, and are fuelled by warm ocean waters.
There is little evidence to suggest a connection between Asperitas cloud formations and the development of hurricanes. Additionally, numerous meteorologists have disproved the notion that the radio waves produced by HAARP research can affect the lower layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, where weather phenomena originate. Howard Diamond, a director at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Air Resources Laboratory, emphasised in a media statement that “[n]either HAARP nor any facility can affect hurricanes” and that humans lack the technology to create, destroy, modify, or steer hurricanes.
Hence, considering the lack of credible evidence linking HAARP, or the Asperitas cloud formations depicted in the various social media posts referenced earlier, to tropical cyclones and specifically Hurricane Milton, the claim that HAARP caused Hurricane Milton is false.