Air Force to shutter HAARP, what were they really up to?

The U.S. Air Force has informed Congress that it will shut down the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP). The allegedly secret program has been controversial for years and has led to outlandish claims from those speculating its intent.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A not-so-secret Air Force program known as HAARP is slated for closure, according to an Air Force notice delivered to Congress. The program, which has long been an open secret, has been the source of broad public speculation. Various conspiracy theories abound because of the program.

Hugo Chavez, the late Venezuelan dictator once infamously claimed the project caused the devastating 2010 Haitian earthquake. More popular claims suggest the program was designed as part of a mass-mind control experiment.

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Others claim the program has created humming noises in the sky, or even audible blasts of sound that can be heard around the world. Various disasters have also been blamed on the project including earthquakes, tsunamis and even tornadoes.

It is highly unlikely any of these theories are true. Each conspiracy theory bears the hallmarks of a classic conspiracy, spreading virally based on speculation and no hard evidence whatsoever. The speculation is fun to share and makes for a great plot device in stories, but it's almost certainly untrue. The tales also perpetuate mistrust in the government, although such mistrust can be healthy in appropriate amounts.

 The stated purpose of HAARP is to study the physical environment of the ionosphere which is powerfully influenced by the Sun. Solar events can spark auroras and the disruption of radio waves which pass through the ionosphere. Understanding this high-energy environment has many practical uses for science and the military.

For example, events in the ionosphere can disrupt radio communications and the electrical grid on Earth.

However, a during a May 14 Senate hearing, David Walker the U.S. Air Force's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Engineering said the Air Force has lost interest in the project and would rather spend its resources studying the ionosphere by different means. He did not specify what means those would be.

Conspiracy theorists will probably conclude that the Air Force has moved on to even more sinister plans for manipulating people or the environment.

The research site, which is located in Alaska, consumes massive amounts of electricity and its generators need to be upgraded. Nobody in Congress of the Air Force appears willing to take on this expense.

Meanwhile, according to a report from NBC News, researchers from other countries such as Canada, Britain and Norway, among others, desire to use the facilities for their own research. However, this is unlikely to happen.

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It remains unclear exactly when HAARP research will cease and another project will replace it, but it is likely to be soon, if not already. No matter what, although HAARP goes away, the conspiracy theories aren't going anywhere.

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