An individual in desperate need of help turned to Reddit for suggestions on how to help their friend understand the dangers of giving credence to conspiracy theories.
The original poster shared their dilemma with the r/meteorology community, writing, "I am worried about a friend getting sucked into believing that weather control technology is being used right now to steal rain from some areas, causing both drought and flooding."
They noted that the friend, who has a Master's degree in teaching and child psychology, was fed information about HAARP and other "vague references" to geoengineering practices from a sketchy source that got its information from an "ancient wise entity" that "burst into her mind."
They were also concerned the "scammer" had too much influence over their friend's livelihood and could convince them to quit their job as a grade school music teacher.
"I feel an ethical obligation to her to debunk this belief and have her question the critical thinking of this person on any level," OP wrote, adding, "This stunned me. If it was only her believing this I wouldn't mess with it."
Conspiracy theories about the government interfering with the weather have run rampant, particularly since Hurricanes Helene and Milton stormed through the Southeastern U.S.
However, climate experts and non-partisan organizations have routinely dismissed these claims, noting that human activities have made extreme weather events — which have always existed — more catastrophic and unpredictable than before.
While weather modification strategies, like cloud seeding, do exist, their ability to meaningfully amplify or control something as powerful as a hurricane is simply untrue. As for HAARP, or the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, it emits radio waves to help researchers analyze the atmosphere, but it doesn't interact with the troposphere or stratosphere, where weather is produced.
Furthermore, its location is far away from where hurricanes form, making it a strange choice for anyone interested in hatching a devious scheme to create or modify hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea without being detected by any groups or foreign nations.
🗣️ Do you think misinformation is a major problem in America today?
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🔘 Only for some people 😒
🔘 Only with certain issues 🤔
🔘 Not really 🙅
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Several commenters offered their opinions, suggesting the Redditor should take a more patient and nuanced approach instead of antagonizing their friend.
"I'd sit down with her and really allow her to dig into everything the conspiracies are claiming. … Get her to question the conspiracy theory answers rather than outright say 'No YOU'RE wrong'" one person said. "Then when she gets to a point where (hopefully) she can see the ridiculous maze of circular logic that drives those theories, break out some trusted news source."
"A good approach. I've found it useful at times to ask 'what would have to be true for this to happen?'" OP responded. "Who would benefit? If rain could be controlled by the US govt, why would reservoirs and rivers be going dry?"
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