Can they control the weather? How the secretive history of weather weapons fuels conspiracy theories

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2024-11-23 14:00:03

"Weather Made To Order?" Illustration by Frederick Siebel for Collier's magazine cover story in May 1954. (Photo: James Vaughan/Flickr)

In the wake of the devastation caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton, online conspiracy theories about weather control have flourished. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell described the storm of disinformation as “absolutely the worst I have ever seen.” At the vanguard of conspiracy theories is Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), who tweeted, “Yes they can control the weather” to her 1.2 million followers shortly before Hurricane Milton hit.

Rep. Greene’s post sparked questions and an immediate backlash, including from fellow Republicans. But the news cycle quickly picked up the story, prompting President Biden to issue a statement calling the claims “stupid” and “beyond ridiculous.” Undeterred, Greene has doubled down several more times. It may be tempting to dismiss these claims, given Rep. Greene’s track record of touting baseless and hateful conspiracy theories. But in this case, as with many conspiracy theories, there is a small kernel of truth to her vastly misleading claims about hurricane control.

Although it may sound like science fiction, the US government once engaged in serious research into weather weapons and other hostile environmental modification technologies. The US eventually halted its pursuit of weather weapons—not because using weather modification as a weapon was impossible, as is often assumed, but because of the possibility that such a terrifying technology was a “Pandora’s box” that might fall into the wrong hands.