As Hurricane Milton slams Florida, scientists have joined officials battling the latest conspiracy theory in the deluge of disinformation: weather manipulation.
The conspiracy theory claims that recent hurricanes have been geo-engineered for special interests by the government. Like most conspiracy theories, this weather manipulation conspiracy is gleaned from a nugget of nuanced reality.
"The most durable conspiracy theories really do stem from a very small piece of truth that's usually at the center of a bunch of other lies and myths and hoaxes and things like that," according to Mike Rothschild, conspiracy theory expert and author of "Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories."
RELATED STORY | What is geoengineering, and why is it sparking climate change debate?
The latest disinformation swirling the hurricanes have pointed to Project STORMFURY, an effort whereby U.S. government attempted "human interference and hurricane modification" during the Cold War.
"Back in the 1950s and 60s, there were experiments to try to weaken weather systems, but the results were really inconclusive," Dr. Kristen Corbosiero, a meteorologist and professor University at Albany, told Scripps News. "And so, the experiments were not continued."
Rothschild said that while those experiments were real, "That does not mean that Hurricane Milton was caused by government-controlled lasers and is being steered toward Tampa."
"One thing being true does not mean that another thing is true," he added.
The weather control conspiracy theory evolved from wild accusations that began with Hurricane Helene. Shortly after Helene devastated regions in the Southeast, former President Donald Trump on Truth Social baselessly accused FEMA of "going out of their way to not help people in republican areas."
Trump repeated the baseless claim, saying people are "being treated very badly in the Republican areas."
Many posts on X further amplified the claim, saying that FEMA also wasn't providing relief to certain communities because they are not immigrants.
Building off the false claim, a conspiracy theory that the weather is being controlled and hurricanes are being steered toward Republican strongholds.
In a viral post on X, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents a district in North Georgia that was also hit by Hurricane Helene, appeared to imply the government, Democrats, or scientists created the storm.
"Yes they can control the weather," she wrote. "It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done."
The conspiracy theory post had reached over 40 million views a week after Helene hit.
The congresswoman doubled down in another viral tweet, saying, "Ask your government if the weather is manipulated or controlled."
RELATED STORY | How debunking disinformation 'junk' became a crucial disaster relief response
Scientists denounced the conspiracy theories.
"Meteorologists do not control the weather," Corbosiero told Scripps News. "I think there's hope that we could develop something to maybe mitigate storms and mitigate disasters. But as of current, we do not have anything like."
"I can't believe I have to post this. NO, we are not 'making' these hurricanes. There is absolutely no possible way that cloud seeding, lasers, or anything else you've seen on the internet can impact these storms," Georgia meteorologist Ella Dorsey posted on Facebook. "We barely understand them enough to predict them, let alone CREATE them. To suggest so is complete misunderstanding of basic science."
Some posts online have accused President Joe Biden and Trump's presidential opponent Vice President Kamala Harris of sending Hurricane Milton to attack Trump supporters in Florida.
This weather weapon conspiracy theory picked up steam after Hurricane Helene hit key battleground state North Carolina.
"When you have a massive Category 5 hurricane like Milton or the destruction that was caused by Hurricane Helene, it's natural for people to think something else is going on here, particularly with the timing of the election," Rothschild said.
"We saw the same thing happening in 2012 when we had superstorm Sandy affecting New York. People immediately thought it was Obama trying to come up with some excuse to cancel the election," he added.
RELATED STORY | Scripps News got deepfaked to see how AI could impact elections
Within a day of Hurricane Sandy pummeling parts of the Northeast over a decade ago, Trump tweeted "Hurricane is good luck for Obama again- he will buy the election by handing out billions of dollars."
"I don't think it's a coincidence that some of the earliest lean conspiracy theories were coming, particularly from North Carolina, which is a state Trump needs to win," Rothschild said.
Both Republicans and Democrats have spoken out against conspiracy theories, calling them "outrageous," "irresponsible," "beyond ridiculous" and "just plain false." Politicizing Hurricane Milton, many have said, distracts from crucial information being shared by officials.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there coming from all kinds of directions about hurricanes. And I think really what needs to be what really should be the focus is protecting life and property," Corbosiero said. "There are people who have suffered from Helene and are going to really suffer for Milton. And so, I really wish as a meteorologist, that would be the focus."
