This is from an e-mail I wrote in response to an inquiry about a post I did on Senses for Thirdi. It's from, what I assume is a younger man, by the name of Sam who was studying whether or not HAARP caused the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. I love a good conspiracy theory but at the end of the day I'm far less likely to believe any of them than I am a good article from a credible source. Not that I'm that credible source, but I thought I'd share some of the reasons why I think this conspiracy (which has been circulating a lot thanks to Hugo Chavez) is highly unlikely. Plus any opportunity I get to use my Geography degree for something actually geography related always excites me.
Hi Sam,
I think it's great to think critically and to be imaginative when researching anything and I commend you for looking into what I think are two very interesting things- HAARP and geophysics. The notion that these earthquakes were caused by HAARP is a stretch though in my opinion. Firstly, these two areas (Haiti and Chile) are both in highly active tectonic areas. Several plates converge in the caribbean, near Haiti:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Caribbean_plate_tectonics-en.png
And Chile is one of the most earthquake prone areas in south America
http://www.geo.arizona.edu/~thomson/SampleMap.jpg
So spending a lot of time trying to connect scientific experiments in radio wave aural resonance to places that naturally experience earthquakes is not the most efficient use of scientific deduction in my opinion. It may end up being a frustrating research experience. That being said, I think it's great to think critically about any cutting edge scientific experiments both civilian and military, and what the implications may be. It's not so much a matter that you "don't know what you're talking about" because the fact of the matter is that very few people understand the scientific principles behind the experiments at HAARP. I would wager that the vast majority of people who aren't involved in HAARP don't know what they're talking about- and I willingly admit that. Perhaps it is scientifically possible that HAARP could induce a quake, but because something may be possible doesn't mean it's likely.
What HAARP (according to its own website) intends to do is to better understand the properties of our ionosphere (a layer of our atmosphere with charged particles that make radio and cellular technologies possible, that protects us from solar radiation and numerous other natural services) It's main focus is both communications (making clearer, more efficient transmissions possible) and looking at ways to defend against solar flares disrupting our global communications infrastructure. Solar activity could be a major threat to modern civilization if it were to wipe out our electronics- this is a remote but frightening possibility. I believe that the HAARP team is more likely set to work on these kinds of things rather than trying to send beams of radiowaves off the ionosphere and down into tectonically sensitive areas. Two scientific reasons why this is unlikely are:
-The amount of energy needed to cause a disruption in the plates would be massive and would cook and sear living things in its path if it were focused in a nature where it could cause stone and magma to react, causing a similar kind of burn from atomic radiation. Things like this would have been reported in those areas if this were the case.
-If such a blast of radiation came from Alaska and was focused on those areas, it would also destroy if not debilitate airplanes and disrupt signals from other electronics trying to communicate, causing global disruptions.
Two qualitative reasons it is unlikely:
- Earthquakes are part of a constantly moving and adapting system of faults and plates. An earthquake in Chile can trigger movement up the Pacific and eventually contribute to activity in the United States and Canada. A quake in the Caribbean can be even more concerning as it's closer. While I'm rarely surprised at how aggressive and careless US foreign policy and militarism can be, this is a highly unlikely use of capital and money. The potential for unknown consequences that can be just as damaging to American assets in areas near active faults makes this an unattractive experiment.
- It's more profitable and useful for the United States to develop a better understanding of the ionosphere for communications purposes and to defend against solar disruptions than to cause earthquakes in impoverished or developing countries. (the conspiracy theorists of course state that this is an experiment leading up to an earthquake induced invasion of Iran, which is also currently improbable as I've pointed out in my blog post)
The reason for the lengthiness of this response is threefold. Firstly I applaud you for being a skeptic, for being interested in what I consider a very fascinating topic, and secondly I was inspired to blog about it. So this response (without naming you directly) is going to be another post on a different site. Thirdly, I believe (from your style of writing) that you might be younger? (as in 20s) and I hope I'm not being presumptuous in thinking that. I used to read a lot of conspiracy literature, to the point where it made me so paranoid that I was unable to make quality decisions and take proactive actions in my life. The HAARP/Haiti conspiracy is one in a number of theories that may have a grain of truth in them- but that grain of truth is completely overshadowed by the rest of the assumptions made. The grain of truth being that America has often meddled in international affairs and it spends a lot of money on crazy insane military technologies. Yes these are goepolitical truisms to most people. And are valid topics to concern ones self with, these should be the point rather than the hypothetical capabilities of HAARP.
Remain skeptical, use your imagination, think critically about these things- and by all means don't be afraid to venture out to the fringes Samir! But take it from one who spent many years on the fringe, the world is already a complex and crazy place- many of these conspiracy theories amplify that craziness to an absurd and paranoid point. Many of the theorists claim that THEY know what's going on. THEY have it all figured out. I think the world is far too complex for any one person to think they have it all figured out. Nevertheless I think it's a valid use of time, life should be a constant pursuit of knowledge and experience. Anyhow, now I'm rambling.
While the US (and all self interested countries with a military) are doing some scary things with technology (particularly with focused or directed energy weapons) I find HAARP causing earthquakes to be quite a stretch. I hope my reasons for that don't seem naive or elementary to you.
Best of luck in all your studies,
Wes
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