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People have always wanted to control the weather. It is honestly one of the most ancient human obsessions, right up there with fire and shelter. Rain dances, cannon fire, cloud prayers – we have tried it all across history. What is different now is the technology, and more importantly, the legal consequences. In 2026, the gap between what people think they can do to the sky and what they are actually allowed to do has never been wider.
The rise of extreme weather events, from devastating hurricane seasons to historic droughts, has pushed a fringe community of would-be weather controllers out of internet forums and into real action. Some of what they are attempting ranges from pointless to genuinely dangerous, and a surprising amount of it is now explicitly illegal in multiple states. Let’s dive in.
1. Launching Sulfur Dioxide Balloons to “Cool the Planet”
This one sounds like a sci-fi plot, and yet it is completely real. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation submitted a demand for information to a start-up company calling themselves “Make Sunsets,” which is launching balloons filled with sulfur dioxide seeking to geoengineer the planet and generate “cooling” credits to sell. The company’s founders are not exactly hiding. They have been doing this for years.
Make Sunsets has launched 147 balloons and sold 128,000 “cooling credits” that offset the warming equivalent to the release of 128,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide since February 2023, according to the company’s website. That is staggering for what is essentially a two-person operation running out of an RV. Think about that image for a moment.
Make Sunsets, which is already banned in Mexico, publicly states its goal is to “scale significantly” and claims to have conducted at least 124 balloon launches. Its operations aim to mimic the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions by dispersing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, a controversial climate intervention strategy that many scientists warn could have unintended environmental consequences.
Sulfur dioxide has been regulated by EPA since 1971 as part of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard program. Sulfur dioxide can harm human health and the environment. Short-term exposures to SO2 can harm the human respiratory system and make breathing difficult. The EPA is now actively determining what legal authorities it has to shut this down. This is one of those cases where the law is genuinely scrambling to catch up with the deed.
2. Unauthorized Cloud Seeding Operations
Cloud seeding is not new. Cloud seeding is a common technique to enhance precipitation. It entails spraying small particles, such as silver iodide, onto clouds to attempt to affect their development, usually with the goal of increasing precipitation. It has been done since the 1940s and remains legitimate science in the right hands with the right permits. The problem is, people try to do it on their own.
NOAA is required by law to track weather modification activities by others, including cloud seeding, but has no authority to regulate those activities. The Weather Modification Reporting Act of 1972 requires anyone who intends to engage in weather modification activities within the United States, including cloud seeding, to provide a report to the Administrator of NOAA at least 10 days prior to undertaking the activity. Skip that report, and you are already in legal trouble.
Failure to report under terms of the WMRA can result in fines of up to $10,000. That said, depending on your state, the consequences can be significantly more severe. Florida’s geoengineering ban classifies unauthorized geoengineering as a felony, with penalties of up to five years in prison and fines up to $100,000. That is not a slap on the wrist. That is a life-altering legal outcome.
There are potential negative consequences to weather modification and cloud seeding. Some studies have focused on the extent to which precipitation could increase or decrease outside of the intended area. In plain terms: make it rain in your region and you might accidentally be stealing rain from your neighbor’s region. The atmosphere is one shared system, and messing with one part affects the rest.
3. Releasing Aerosols for “Marine Cloud Brightening”
Here is the thing about marine cloud brightening. The science behind it is real and actively researched by legitimate institutions. The idea is to spray saltwater aerosols into low-lying marine clouds to make them more reflective, bouncing sunlight back into space. Sounds harmless enough. Except when individuals or unauthorized groups try it without oversight, things go sideways fast.
A University of Washington-led program, in collaboration with two nonprofits called SilverLining and SRI International, planned for a small-scale solar geoengineering experiment that involved spraying saltwater aerosols off the deck of the retired USS Hornet aircraft carrier. A second phase of the experiment would have looked to increase the density and reflectiveness of clouds. However, the UW experiment only lasted 20 minutes before Alameda city officials shut it down. The city council voted in June 2024 to block the experiment from restarting, in part, over the researchers’ lack of transparency.
Even a university-backed and scientifically credible project got shut down, mostly because officials were not kept in the loop. Imagine what would happen to a random person attempting this in a backyard with a rented spray rig. The lesson is clear: transparency and permits are not optional, they are everything. Fake stories that atmospheric experiments are triggering natural disasters have led to U.S. states pushing blanket bans on weather modification, which experts say may jeopardize current local scientific programs and hinder future research.
4. Attempting to “Hack” HAARP-Style Radio Transmissions
Few conspiracy rabbit holes go as deep as HAARP. HAARP is a target of conspiracy theorists, who claim that it is capable of weather manipulation and mind control. Scientists and other critics point out that these claims fall well outside the abilities of the facility, and often outside the scope of current natural science. Every major hurricane, earthquake, or blizzard in recent memory has been blamed on HAARP by someone online.
The reality? Radio waves in the frequency ranges in which HAARP transmits are not absorbed in either the troposphere or the stratosphere, the two levels of the atmosphere that produce Earth’s weather. Since there is no interaction, there is no way to control the weather. The HAARP system is basically a large radio transmitter that produces radio waves that interact with electrical charges and currents and do not significantly interact with the troposphere.
Two Georgia men arrested on drug charges in November 2016 were reportedly plotting domestic terrorism based on conspiracy theories about HAARP. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office said the men possessed a “massive arsenal” that included AR-15 rifles, Glock handguns, a Remington rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition. According to police, the men wanted to destroy HAARP because they believed the facility manipulates the weather, controls minds and even traps the souls of people. This is where disinformation becomes genuinely dangerous. People making real, destructive decisions based on completely false science.
5. Attempting to Steer or Create Hurricanes
After Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore through the southeastern United States in fall 2024, social media absolutely exploded with claims that someone had engineered the storms. Hurricane Helene became one of the deadliest storms to hit the U.S. in the 21st century with a death toll over 200 by the time it dissolved in late September. Hurricane Milton was born two weeks later and broiled to wind speeds of 180 mph, briefly testing maximum Category 5 intensity before weakening to Category 3 on impact near Tampa Bay.
Some claimed the government is creating, strengthening or steering hurricanes into specific communities. The fact is: no technology exists that can create, destroy, modify, strengthen or steer hurricanes in any way, shape or form. NOAA has been unambiguous about this. Still, some individuals have attempted to mimic old military experiments like Project Stormfury at a personal level, treating silver iodide like a DIY kit.
Not only is there zero evidence that anyone attempted to alter the paths of the hurricanes, but it is implausible that someone could modify a hurricane, let alone in such a way to target specific groups. As one university researcher noted, “There is no scientific proof that any weather modification has been successful in hurricanes.” Attempting it yourself is not just pointless. In several states, the attempt itself can carry felony charges.
6. Spraying Substances from Personal Aircraft (“Chemtrail” Operations)
The chemtrail conspiracy is one of the most persistent myths in modern atmospheric folklore. Ideas about “chemtrails” have persisted since before the turn of the century. Believers in the conspiracy claim the white streaks left behind by airplanes contain chemicals that can manipulate weather, cause widespread sickness and more. However, these “chemtrails” are actually just a collection of condensation, or contrails, from hot aircraft engines. Basic atmospheric physics. Nothing sinister.
Yet some individuals have gone so far as to mount their own spray rigs to small personal aircraft and attempt DIY atmospheric dispersal. Tennessee bill HB 2063/SB 2691 was signed into law on April 11, 2024. This bill bans the “intentional injection, release, or dispersion” of chemicals within Tennessee “with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight.” The law was partly written to address exactly this kind of activity.
Proposals to ban weather modification and solar geoengineering are gathering momentum across the United States, with 22 states introducing bills in 2025. Anyone attempting to spray substances from a private plane without authorization is not just risking legal consequences under state weather modification laws. They are also potentially violating FAA regulations, Clean Air Act provisions, and in some states, felony statutes. The legal exposure is enormous.
7. Unauthorized Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Experiments
Stratospheric aerosol injection is the big one. The idea, modeled on the natural cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, involves sending reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to reduce global temperatures. When Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, sulfur dioxide from the eruption spread across the global stratosphere. The particles ended up cooling the world about half a degree Celsius the following year. That is the template some people are trying to replicate on their own terms.
In April 2025, Florida lawmakers passed Senate Bill 56, a landmark geoengineering ban that prohibits weather modification activities, including cloud seeding and solar radiation modification. Governor Ron DeSantis announced his intent to sign the bill into law. Effective July 1, 2025, Florida’s geoengineering ban positions it as the first state to criminalize these practices, reflecting strong legislative support with an 82-28 House vote.
Proposals to ban weather modification and solar geoengineering are gathering momentum across the United States, with 22 states introducing bills so far in 2025. To date, lawmakers in 30 U.S. states have now proposed bills that would impose bans on solar radiation management. This is a legislative wave unlike anything the atmosphere-tinkering community has seen before. The political will to criminalize unsanctioned atmospheric experiments is very real and growing fast.
A 2024 GAO report notes that existing research, while limited to a handful of recent studies, suggests that silver iodide does not pose an environmental or health concern at current levels, but adds that it is not known whether more widespread use would have an effect on public health or be a risk to the environment. That scientific uncertainty is precisely why regulators are drawing harder lines. When nobody knows the full consequences, allowing private individuals to experiment freely is a gamble the government is no longer willing to take.
Conclusion
The desire to control weather is deeply human. It is understandable, even admirable in its ambition. The problem is that the atmosphere belongs to everyone, and actions taken in the sky above one region ripple outward in ways nobody can fully predict or contain. Legislation is tightening rapidly across the United States, and what was once merely frowned upon is now, in multiple states, a criminal offense carrying real prison time.
Science does not dismiss the possibility of legitimate, supervised weather modification. Researchers around the world continue to study it carefully. The key words there are “supervised” and “carefully.” That is the line between responsible science and reckless DIY experimentation with consequences that can extend far beyond whoever pressed the launch button.
What do you think – should individuals have the right to experiment with the atmosphere, or is the sky simply too shared a resource to leave to private hands? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
