Declassified Documents Reveal US Secret Cold War Weather Experiments
Newly resurfaced declassified files are raising fresh questions about Cold War-era programs that aimed to modify storms and rainfall through cloud-seeding operations
The documents detail experiments involving chemicals released into the atmosphere, including programs tied to military operations in Vietnam.
For anyone keeping score, this is yet another case where “that’s just a conspiracy theory” didn’t age particularly well once the documents became public.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, once top-secret CIA documents have revealed detailed U.S. government efforts dating back to the 1960s to modify weather patterns, raising urgent questions about atmospheric interventions that some claim continue today.
The declassified 1965 files outline ambitious plans to seed the atmosphere with chemicals, using aircraft and rockets to influence storms and climate systems.
These records highlight a push for dramatically increased funding by 1967, coinciding with military applications during the Vietnam War.
Federal support for the programs surged as officials viewed weather control as a potential strategic advantage amid Cold War tensions. President Lyndon B. Johnson personally backed the initiatives, having declared in a 1962 speech at Southwest Texas State University:
“He who controls the weather will control the world.”
Government projects like Stormfury, which attempted to weaken hurricanes by dispersing silver iodide into storm systems, while Operation Popeye extended monsoon seasons over Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Trail by seeding clouds, aiming to disrupt enemy supply lines through induced flooding and landslides.
The latter reportedly involved lead iodide, a toxic substance linked to severe health risks including neurological damage.
One widely shared reaction on X captured the growing outrage:
“The CIA has been poisoning the sky and controlling the weather since 1965!”
Whether these experiments lead to actual application of this technology over the skies of Vietnam remains a bitter argument to this day.
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Header image: CNBC