Hurricane-Making Machines? NOAA Exposes the Truth Behind Weather Manipulation

Satellite image of Hurricane Milton,CIRA

As the southeastern United States recovers from the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a surge of misinformation about weather manipulation technology has taken over social media, prompting NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to address and debunk these claims.

The rumors, ranging from the idea that the U.S. government can create and steer hurricanes to claims of weather manipulation projects like cloud seeding and solar geoengineering, have been widely circulating online. However, NOAA firmly states that no technology exists to control or alter hurricanes.

"All hurricanes, including Helene and Milton, are natural phenomena," NOAA emphasized in its response, adding that these storms form based on specific atmospheric and oceanic conditions. The recent hurricanes were driven by record-high sea temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing them to intensify rapidly—factors entirely out of human control.

Addionally, social media posts have pointed to government programs like HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) and SCOPEX as evidence of weather manipulation. NOAA clarifies that neither project has any weather-modifying capabilities. HAARP, located in Alaska, is a research facility studying the ionosphere, far from the Earth’s surface and with no connection to weather systems like hurricanes. SCOPEX, a theoretical research project on solar geoengineering, concluded earlier this year without any experiments conducted.

Another theory circulating online claims that NOAA’s NEXRAD Doppler radars are being used to direct hurricanes toward specific communities. NOAA debunked this, stating that radar technology is strictly observational. These radars detect precipitation and help forecasters assess storm movement but have no ability to alter or influence the course of storms.

A key misconception fueling these rumors is the notion that the U.S. government is using cloud seeding to intensify or direct hurricanes. Cloud seeding, NOAA explains, is a weather modification technique used in some parts of the U.S. to enhance snowfall in mountainous regions or increase rain in dry areas. However, it is not used to influence hurricane formation or strength and is conducted by private entities, not NOAA.
NOAA is not involved in any weather modification activities and has not been since the termination of its Project STORMFURY, a decades-old research effort aimed at modifying hurricane intensity, which proved unsuccessful.

As the disinformation spreads, NOAA remains committed to ensuring the public has access to accurate, science-based information. While the organization continues to advance its technology, such as dual-polarization radar that provides more precise weather forecasts, it stresses that hurricanes are purely natural events, and no current technology can control their formation or direction.
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For now, NOAA’s focus remains on tracking and predicting extreme weather, providing the public with reliable forecasts and warnings in advance of dangerous storms. The agency urges the public to rely on credible sources for information and avoid spreading unverified claims.