Photo: Fragments of photo reports from the Project Seal, which was an attempt to create a weapon that caused a tsunami. Similar developments with the use of nuclear weapons were proposed by Academician Andrei Sakharov
In the news, we constantly see reports of powerful hurricanes, disastrous floods, large-scale droughts and other destructive natural phenomena. And more and more often, mainly within the framework of various conspiracy theories, remarks are heard that these natural disasters are the result of the use of a new type of weapon - climate
Climatic, or as it is also called geophysical, weapon is understood as the technology of influencing one or another natural phenomenon. At the present stage, these are mainly ways to control the movement of air masses, the amount of precipitation, fluctuations in the earth's crust and other environmental factors. The question is what technologies of geophysical weapons actually exist and how they can be used to achieve certain military-political goals.
Water and wind
Tropical storms have become a real disaster for the United States. And since in this country there is a steady tendency of relocation of people to the coast, the damage from hurricanes is growing every year. The record holder was hurricane Katrina in 2005, which cost the US treasury $ 41 billion, which, for example, would be a catastrophic financial loss for any country in South America, significantly reducing its economic and military potential.
The US government, realizing the seriousness of the problem, initiated work on hurricane management a long time ago - from the 1960s - and initially they were aimed exclusively at a peaceful channel: to protect the coast from the elements.
In 1962, American scientists began the Stormfury project. As part of this project, for the first time in the world, large-scale experiments were carried out on seeding clouds with silver iodide, which was supposed to turn a hurricane gaining strength into harmless rain.
The experiments went with varying success: scientists stated that the wind force is reduced by 10-30%, at the same time, there are a large number of cases when the seeding of clouds did not have any effect on the hurricane. We can say that, in general, the hurricane stopping project failed, although it worked until 1983. But one thing the researchers were able to achieve: they found a reliable way to make rain. And the results of their work were immediately used by the creative American military who fought the hard war in Vietnam.
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From 1967 to 1972, the US Army conducted Operation Popeye to seeding clouds with silver iodide. The purpose of this military operation was to hinder the actions of the rebels and the elimination of the Ho Chi Minh trail - it was simply to be washed away with water. The first test of silver iodide in the area of the Boloven Plateau in the Si Kong Valley was successful: the processed cloud crossed the border of Vietnam, and 23 cm of precipitation fell on the camp of the American special forces in four hours. Operation Popeye increased the spray season from 30 days to 45 days and the daily rainfall increased by a third. Aerial reconnaissance testified to the difficult movement on the roads, the soldiers noted that the soil had turned into a continuous sea of mud.
It should be noted that to achieve such results, only three C-130 transport aircraft and 2 F-4C cover fighters were required. In addition, despite the Pentagon's categorical denials, many experts believe that the Popeye project was the cause of the disastrous flooding in North Vietnam that occurred in 1971 and covered more than 10% of the country.
It should be noted that political complications did not stop the American military. To the possible international condemnation of climate manipulation, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara of those years responded that such statements were used in the past to prevent military activities in the interests of US national security, that is, these are only the words of ill-wishers who want to prevent the Americans from protecting their interests. Note that the government of Laos (silver iodide was sprayed over this country) was not even notified about the experiments with the climate. With the departure of the Americans from Vietnam, experiments on tropical typhoons did not stop: in the 1980s, Soviet aircraft were already engaged in this.
Currently, modern, more sophisticated reagents capable of provoking precipitation have been created and are used. For example, Dyn-O-Gel powder from Dyn-O-Mat is capable of absorbing a huge amount of moisture (2 thousand times its weight), turning into a sticky gel. Unfortunately, the powder failed experiments to prevent hurricanes: rainfall in an incipient tornado caused fluctuations in wind speed by a few meters per second. But Dyn-O-Gel is capable of causing heavy rainfall, flooding some areas and causing severe drought in others. True, this requires a lot of powder: if you want to shed 2 cm of rain on an area of 1 sq. km (20 thousand tons of water), you need to apply 10 tons of powder. That is, almost 38 thousand tons of powder will be needed to eliminate a hurricane 20 × 20 km. This is a huge figure:heavy transport aircraft C-5A with a carrying capacity of 100 tons will have to make 377 flights in a short time, which is almost impossible even with the American fleet and budget.
However, it should be stated that the creation of a local drought or prolonged rains is possible, moreover, it can be done secretly or from the territory of a neighboring state. Thus, heavy economic damage is inflicted on the enemy or it becomes impossible to conduct agriculture in the border regions. The problem is further complicated by the fact that absolutely all countries are vulnerable to manipulation with precipitation, especially such as China, where the vast majority of food is grown in several relatively small provinces.
And although the reality of "sabotage" spraying of substances like silver iodide, Dyn-O-Gel or practically invisible nanodispersed powders remains in question, there are no significant obstacles, except for the presence of political will for this. In theory, any aircraft flying over the territory of a sovereign state is capable of influencing the climate (spraying equipment is invisible, non-stop transit flights are not checked) and it is extremely difficult to detect the fact of spraying.
At present, there is no reliable information about the use of this type of climatic weapon, except for Operation Popeye, declassified by an idle American journalist. Nevertheless, scandals over the possible use of precipitation-provoking reagents periodically occur: thousands of farmers from arid regions around the world peer up into the sky and periodically see suspicious tracks trailing behind planes.
Damage to the economy and the armed forces of the enemy can be caused not only by precipitation, but also by powerful hurricane winds. The strong wind destroys infrastructure, makes it impossible to use army aviation, makes it difficult to use tactical missiles and constrains the actions of ground forces. But can a hurricane become the first stage, for example, an invasion of the coast of a hostile state?
American scientist Moshe Alamaro of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims that there are hurricane management technologies. The bottom line is the artificial regulation of temperature in different parts of the incipient tornado. Motion control is carried out by targeted heating or cooling of certain areas by seeding with soot, evaporation of water, irradiation with microwaves, lasers, etc. According to the scientist, an excellent way of influencing the wind would be a large sea vessel equipped with two dozen jet engines that create a powerful ascending stream air. After just a few hours of operation, the engines begin to form a tornado, and it obediently follows the ship. In practice, it is not difficult to equip a ship with such a "tornado generator".
Tsunami bomb
The recent events in Japan and the powerful tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 make one wonder whether such catastrophic phenomena can be caused artificially? 10 years ago, the secret American project Project Seal (1944-1945) became public. This military program, under the scientific supervision of Professor Thomas Leech, involved detonating a large amount of explosives on the seabed, which should have caused a local tsunami, washing away buildings on the enemy's coast.
Low power tests were carried out in the Pacific Ocean, near the Wangaparaoa Peninsula (New Zealand). The participants in the experiment considered them to be successful, but it is still unknown how this project actually ended. Later, there were also numerous sea trials of powerful atomic bombs, which are more suitable for creating giant waves. There is information that Thomas Leach himself was planned to be sent to the site of nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll, in order to collect information useful for the tsunami bomb project. As far as is known, he did not participate in these tests.
But back to today's events and ask ourselves, is it possible to link the recent devastating tsunamis with the use of atomic tsunami bombs? In fact, it turns out that it is extremely difficult to prove the fact of an underwater nuclear explosion, which also occurs against the background of a strong earthquake, and the accusation of killing tens of thousands of people requires serious evidence.
It should also be said that there are not so many developed countries vulnerable to tsunami bombs, including Great Britain and Japan. But the United States is most vulnerable.
Impact from the ionosphere
The ionosphere is the part of the Earth's upper atmosphere located at an altitude of 50 km. It contains a large number of ions and free electrons that protect us from cosmic radiation. The influence of the ionosphere on the Earth's climate is not fully understood, but it is assumed that it is significant.
The impact on the ionosphere to create destructive natural phenomena is the most controversial and most discussed part of the history of geophysical weapons.
The debate is exacerbated by the fact that two instruments for influencing the ionosphere are widely known: the high-frequency Russian SURA emitter and the similar, but larger American HAARP complex.
Initially, both installations were built as experimental stands for studying the possibilities of influencing the ionosphere in order to disrupt radio communications, intercept ballistic missiles and other aircraft. Installations of the HAARP and SURA types using high-frequency radiation can heat a certain area of the ionosphere and create a plasmoid - a plasma clot consisting of magnetic fields and plasma.
Plasmoid has a lot of energy, it has the potential to destroy electronics, as well as reflect radio radiation. Thus, using installations of the HAARP type, it is possible to create a giant radio lens that reflects a radio beam in a chosen direction or, conversely, absorbs it.
In fact, the installation allows you to project electromagnetic radiation anywhere in the world. The radiation power remains a mystery. It is believed that the HAARP plant in Alaska is capable of producing up to 3.6 MW, and SURA - 750 kW. However, it is believed that the United States has erected similar installations in other regions: Australia, Greenland, Norway and Asia.
There are many rumors and myths surrounding HAARP. Fans of conspiracy theories believe that the installation is capable of causing earthquakes by emitting some "resonant" waves that provoke movements of the earth's crust. It is believed that HAARP radiation can even cause panic and insanity in thousands of people. Numerous earthquakes in different parts of the Earth, popular riots and military coups are cited as "examples". Books have been written about how the US and the USSR (and later Russia) exchanged "geophysical strikes" and this climate war continues to this day. But all this “evidence”, supported by photographs of unusual clouds, large hailstones, strange lightning and colored rain, is usually attributed to ordinary atmospheric phenomena or the result of industrial activity.
Antenna "forest" at the SURA facility
HAARP antennas can create plasmoids in the sky, "flashing" radars, and even trigger the northern lights
To resolve the dispute whether HAARP and SURA are weapons, the answer to the question: is the low energy of these high-frequency emitters capable of starting the processes of powerful natural disasters? Most scientists who study atmospheric phenomena doubt this. Suffice it to recall that the Sun daily rains orders of magnitude more energy onto the ionosphere, and atomic explosions in a second send power into the earth's crust that is not comparable to the radiation of even thousands of HAARP antennas.
Numerous experiments carried out on ionospheric heaters at Arecibo and at other facilities have shown that it is impossible to cause long-term changes in the ionosphere - all disturbances introduced by humans are attenuated within a few seconds or minutes.
In addition, heating the ionosphere is impossible during the day, because due to solar ultraviolet radiation, the D-region of the ionosphere (60-90 km) absorbs radio waves that are used by HAARP.
Of course, the military use of installations such as HAARP and SURA cannot be ruled out, perhaps the military is working on promising technologies that allow using the heating of the ionosphere for electronic warfare, disabling satellites, ballistic missile warheads, and also for over-the-horizon communications. However, the involvement of modern devices, with an energy of even tens of megawatts, in earthquakes and tsunamis, which release thousands of gigawatts every second, looks doubtful. In the future, heating the ionosphere with super-powerful high-frequency emitters can be used as a geophysical weapon, for example, as a way to weaken the ozone layer over the enemy's territory or to heat the atmosphere in order to influence natural processes. This requires accurate real-time simulation of the Earth's atmosphere and huge energy resources.
Secret weapon
Discussions about geophysical weapons are rarely accompanied by a demonstration of facts. This is natural - its essence is secrecy. Management of natural disasters loses its meaning if it attracts the attention of the world community - in this case, it is easier to get by with economic pressure and high-precision strikes.
At the peak of active work on the creation of geophysical weapons in 1977, the UN Convention "On the Prohibition of Military and Any Other Hostile Use of Means of Influencing the Environment" was signed. Its purpose is to prevent the environment from being used as a weapon of war, for example, provoking hurricanes, tidal waves, etc. This document was signed by the leading countries of the world and puts geophysical weapons on a par with nuclear weapons.
The use of large-scale geophysical strikes at the present time will cause not only condemnation of the world community, but also serious retaliatory actions, comparable to a reaction to a nuclear attack. It follows from this that “strategic” geophysical weapons, which could lead to disasters such as hurricane Katrina in 2005 or drought in Russia in 2010, are either not used, or there is a global conspiracy of governments of dozens of countries, including and to the detriment of their own interests.
The latter seems highly unlikely.
However, the use of geophysical weapons in a limited area is not only possible, but inevitable. The US military did not abandon the idea of changing the weather in local theaters of operations. Moreover, the corresponding technologies are planned to be completed by 2025. Tactical advantages are the creation of low clouds, covering aircraft from ground surveillance, fog hiding ground forces, and so on.
Climate-changing technology projects have been dragged into the shadows by generous military funding. It remains to be hoped that people still will not lose their right to sunlight, heat, water and air.