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H.A.A.R.P.
An auroral research program that superheats the ionosphere
Category Strange Science, Instruments of Science, Electrical Oddities, Marvelous Maps and Measures
From a distance, it looks like a parking lot filled with over-sized television antennae. In actually it is the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program or HAARP, a government research facility focused on physical and electrical properties of the earth's ionosphere. Set in the the beautiful Alaskan forest, HAARP is, to certain conspiracy theorists, neither a research program nor a TV antennae, but a weather control device, space weapon, or even a death ray.
Funded by DARPA, the United States Air Force, and the Navy, HAARP's projects involve superheating the ionosphere with high-frequency radio waves. This incited the suspicions of physicist Bernard Eastlund and a small group of other scientists in the 1990s, who expressed concern about HAARP's possible future use as a weapon. Russia also expressed concern and criticized HAARP as a "new integral geophysical weapon." The Russian government now operates a very similar facility known as the Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility.
Despite the criticism, or because of it, the researchers at HAARP have been very open about their research, stating unequivocally that "there are no classified documents pertaining to the HAARP." They are adamant that the site is in no way a danger to anyone. Among the stated goals of HAARP are studying how the earth's natural ionosphere affects radio signals, something of interest to both the commercial and military worlds.
While there is little evidence to suggest that HAARP has a potential use as a weapon or anything else nefarious, one of the stated aims of the project is to generate VLF and ELF (very low frequencies and extremely low frequencies) for communication with submarines (hence the Navy funding) and possible use in remotely searching for mineral content. HAARP recently bounced low frequency signals off the moon in the "lunar echo" experiment and invited amateur radio enthusiasts to listen in.
In the spirit of openness, the HAARP facility hosts a open house each year, inviting anyone who wants to to tour the facility. The dates and times are announced in advance on the HAARP website.
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- Website http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/index.html
- Address HAARP Research Station , Gakona, Alaska, United States
Comments
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Just read the other comments, so i thought I would throw a little critical thought out there. I know it is terrible news for the conspiracy theorist, but HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) has no potential to affect weather. The frequency of energy that HAARP transmits cannot be absorbed by the troposphere or the stratosphere, only by the ionosphere, many kilometers higher than the highest atmospheric weather systems and the ionosphere is created and replenished daily by solar radiation. Which points out that the ionosphere cannot cause earthquakes and so on. Just communications research. Not very exciting I know!! I was disappointed at not seeing my first doomsday device.
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Took the tour in 2008, very interesting!
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No security clearance is needed to visit and tour the site, and HAARP holds an open house pretty much every summer. For a good overview of the truth and myths about Haarp see: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4122
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Anonymous
January 20, 2010
i bet it's more of a "slaughter house" considering anyone that is interested in it obviously knows what the capabilities are. i guarantee you won't be coming home. -
I have seen a lot of conspiracy theories accusing HAARP of everything from earthquakes to tornadoes. I've never before heard that they have an 'open house' each year. Aren't they out in the middle of nowhere? Only the most dedicated 'fans' would make the effort to get out to them...<a href="http://www.rick-morgan.com">Rick</a>
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