HAARP was a weather ion research program jointly funded by the US Air Force, US Navy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and universities. It began in 1993 and at the height of conspiracies, some theorists claimed it could change weather patterns, cause earthquakes, droughts and storms.

Scientists rubbished these claims saying all were outside HAARP’s abilities and most were beyond natural science. Actually, based on a sub-arctic facility an Air Force-owned site near Gakona, Alaska, HAARP’s purpose was to analyse the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance.