Can the Alaska-based High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), a former military project for studying the ionosphere, be used as weapon to change weather? No, that's not true: Contacted by Lead Stories, HAARP confirmed that the facility "cannot create or amplify natural disasters." Also, other scientists confirmed that HAARP was not capable of causing natural disasters, controlling minds, or communicating with aliens.
The claim appeared in a Tiktok video (archived here) published by @charlie33398 on August 12, 2023 titled "Do you trust or not? H.A.A.R.P." with the following description:
#H.A.A.R.P HIGH FREQUENCY WEAPON ????
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Aug 16 07:59:24 2023 UTC)
HAARP is a research program conducted by the United States military from 1993 to 2014 to study the ionosphere, a region of the earth's upper atmosphere where charged particles interact with the earth's magnetic field. The program addressed various scientific questions about the ionosphere, such as how it affects satellite communication, responds to solar activity, and influences the earth's weather patterns.
The FAQ section of its website explains the purpose of the facility and describes its core means:
The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is the world's most capable high-power, high frequency (HF) transmitter for studying of the ionosphere. The principal instrument is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a phased array of 180 HF crossed-dipole antennas spread across 33 acres and capable of radiating 3.6 megawatts into the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Transmit frequencies are selectable in the range of 2.7 to 10 MHz, and since the antennas form a sophisticated phased array, the transmitted beam can take many shapes, can be scanned over a wide angular range and multiple beams can be formed.
Due to its origin as a military research project and its scale, HAARP has long been the subject of conspiracy theories. According to Professor Fred Menk, an expert on earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere from the University of Newcastle, it is not true that HAARP can change weather or initiate natural disasters. He said most of the weather experienced on the earth's surface occurs in the troposphere and stratosphere, up to around 15 kilometers altitude. This is well below the minimum height of the ionosphere. And the aurora zone is located within the ionosphere and is a primary area of HAARP research.
