Other recent conspiracy theories that have dominated social media have targeted FEMA, a long-standing target of anti-government narratives. Some have falsely claimed that the agency was intentionally withholding aid to punish Trump-supporting enclaves, or that the organization had spent all its money on the border and foreign wars.
Those conspiracy theories, parroted by Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans, have roiled the area and hampered relief efforts. “Harris and Biden are standing up for the GREAT people of North Carolina, who are giving almost all of their FEMA money to illegal immigrants,” Trump wrote in one of many posts shared on Truth Social.
Over the weekend, the White House released a memorandum titled “Combating Hurricane Helene Falsehoods with Facts,” debunking some dominant narratives about FEMA relief efforts, claiming that, for example, no money had been diverted from disaster response needs to the border.
“Misinformation of this type can deter people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most,” the memo said. “It is paramount that all leaders, whatever their political beliefs, stop spreading this poison.”
This hasn’t stopped other online accounts from weighing in as well. Private equity manager Grant Cardone, who has an account marked in yellow as a “verified organization” on X, said he had never seen a hurricane follow a path like the one Milton followed. (Readers added context, noting that while it is a rare track, it has been seen at least six times in the Gulf of Mexico since 1851.) “Do you think the government is using technology to manipulate weather patterns and storms?” Cardone asked in a post that has been viewed more than 5 million times.
“Cloud seeding or weather manipulation is real,” wrote one X user in a post that has been viewed 180,000 times. “Kills Americans, catastrophic events RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION. Voting becomes impossible for many. October surprise?
Experts tell WIRED there is absolutely no truth to any of these claims that hurricanes could have been designed by scientists.
Joshua Horton, a senior program member who studies solar geoengineering at Harvard University, says he has worked in the field of geoengineering for 15 years and had never encountered the use of lasers. Horton noted that in the 1960s there were attempts to use weather modification to move hurricanes away from coasts. Maybe in 30 years, he says, solar engineering research could have advanced to the point where scientists could know how to reduce the severity of hurricanes. One theory being explored is whether shooting sea foam into low-lying marine clouds to make them more reflective over hot areas of the ocean could potentially reduce the severity of hurricanes. But at this point, that remains “totally speculative,” Horton says.
“Scientists can’t control the climate the way MTG claims,” says Leah Aronowsky, assistant professor of climate at Columbia University’s Climate School.
Aronowsky says the field of geoengineering, which involves intervening in the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and soils to mitigate the effects of climate change, is controversial and worthy of some “real conversations.” But it is also a field frequently attacked by conspiracy theorists, who imagine nefarious actors using complex emerging technology for political purposes.