The United States and parts of Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand witnessed vibrant auroras lighting up the night sky on Friday night.
This rare phenomenon was prompted by an extreme G5 geomagnetic storm, the most intense solar event to impact Earth in nearly two decades.
NOAA issued a storm watch earlier in the week after detecting multiple earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These CMEs were anticipated to hit by midday Friday, May 10, 2024, with the possibility of lingering effects until Sunday.
The agency warned of potential “widespread voltage control problems and protective system problems,” noting that “some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts, transformers may experience damage,” and disruptions to radio and satellite navigation were likely.
As awe-inspiring images of the auroras flooded platforms like X, with sightings reported as far south as Texas, an alternative theory gained traction. Some members of the public questioned whether the event was natural or the result of human intervention, specifically pointing to the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP).
HAARP, a research initiative aimed at studying the ionosphere—located roughly 50 to 400 miles above Earth’s surface—is capable of creating artificial auroras.
The program uses high-frequency radio wave transmitters to excite electrons in the ionosphere, mimicking the natural aurora borealis effect just like during a solar storm.
According to University of Alaska Fairbanks website, “HAARP is a scientific endeavor aimed at understanding the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, which forms the boundary between Earth’s lower atmosphere and the vacuum of space.”
Whitham Reeve, a part-time space weather advisor for the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) and a member of the HAARP Advisory Committee, disclosed that HAARP had been conducting a research campaign from May 8-10 that coincides with a solar storm.
On May 2, Reeve shared an announcement in the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers’ group on Google, which included a press release from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and an accompanying graphic.
Reeve posted:
“To: HAARP Community
HAARP will be conducting a research campaign May 8-10, 2024. Attached for your reference are the campaign transmission notice and media image.
The transmission notice includes supplementary information for HAARP Radio Enthusiasts and information about monitoring HAARP transmission with a software defined radio (SDR) receiver.
Good luck listening, and be sure to file reception reports as described in the notice!”
According to the press release:
“The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) will be conducting a research campaign May 8-10 UTC, with operating times specified in the table below. Operating frequencies will vary, but all HAARP transmissions will be between 2.8 MHz and 10 MHz. Actual transmit days and times are highly variable based on real-time ionospheric and/or geomagnetic conditions. All information is subject to change.
This campaign is being conducted in support of research proposals from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and is studying mechanisms for the detection of orbiting space debris. Space debris poses a major risk to all space operations, including manned spacecraft and communications satellites. The experiments being performed at HAARP will help identify ways to improve collision detection on satellites. For more information on space debris, see the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office’s FAQ at https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faq/. For more information on research at HAARP, see the online HAARP FAQ at https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/faq.”
HAARP has the capability to create artificial auroras, using high-frequency radio waves to stimulate the ionosphere, leading to the production of visible effects akin to the aurora borealis.
Anchorage Daily News reported last year:
Watchers of the night sky along much of Alaska’s road system may catch a colorful splotch of light up high in the air over the weekend. Though it might look like the aurora, the red or greenish “airglow” in the ionosphere is a byproduct of a rare, four-day-long set of experiments at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program — or HAARP — in Gakona.
“Each day, the airglow could be visible up to 300 … miles from the HAARP facility,” according to a statement from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
By creating an artificial aurora with equipment on the ground, researchers hope to learn more about the natural aurora.
Reuters affiliate, Times News Now, reported, “It is unlikely that a test covered parts of Europe, North America and Australia on the same night. But authorities are yet to respond to these claims.”
The University of Alaska Fairbanks did not immediately respond to The Gateway Pundit’s request for comment on this claim.
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