HAARP controls the weather
HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is a legitimate scientific facility in Alaska that studies the ionosphere using radio waves. Physicists and atmospheric scientists have consistently explained that HAARP cannot influence weather, as its radio waves do not interact with the troposphere where weather occurs.
What we know
HAARP is a University of Alaska Fairbanks program, formerly operated jointly by the U.S. Air Force and Navy. Its principal instrument, the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), is an array of 180 HF radio antennas capable of radiating 3.6 megawatts into the ionosphere, which begins 60-80 km above Earth's surface. The goal is to study ionospheric physics relevant to communications and navigation systems.
Weather occurs in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, extending to roughly 12 km altitude. Radio waves in the frequencies used by HAARP (2.8-10 MHz) are not absorbed in the troposphere or stratosphere and therefore cannot interact with weather systems. As HAARP's own FAQ states: 'since there is no interaction, there is no way to control the weather.' Stanford professor Umran Inan, a leading expert on ionospheric physics, has described weather-control theories around HAARP as 'completely uninformed.'
Furthermore, even within the ionosphere, HAARP's effect is minuscule, less than 3 microwatts per square centimeter, tens of thousands of times weaker than the sun's natural electromagnetic radiation. The solar wind and natural ionospheric storms are far more energetic than anything HAARP produces, and these natural processes do not affect surface weather. HAARP also lacks the capability to release gases, liquids, or any substance into the atmosphere, and its experiments typically last from seconds to a few hours.
All HAARP experiments are openly published and the program operates under cooperative research agreements. The facility's data are publicly available. Claims that HAARP caused specific weather events, earthquakes, or disasters, including tsunamis, hurricanes, or wildfires, have no physical basis.
Common claims
- HAARP can control the weather or trigger natural disastersNot supported, HAARP's radio waves do not interact with the troposphere where weather occurs
- HAARP is a secret military weaponFalse, HAARP is openly published research; since 2015 it is run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks
- HAARP caused specific hurricanes, earthquakes, or floodsNo evidence, HAARP has no physical mechanism to cause such events
- HAARP heats the ionosphere as a cover for weather modificationNot supported, ionospheric heating is the research subject itself, documented openly; no tropospheric effect is possible
Evidence hierarchy
All sources
- HAARP FAQ, University of Alaska FairbanksUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks / HAARP · 2024
- About HAARPHAARP / University of Alaska Fairbanks · 2024
- HAARP: the most powerful ionosphere heater on EarthPhysics Today / AIP · 2015
- HAARP, weather, natural disasters and the human mindCEDMO / EU fact-checking · 2025