The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is a research project run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It studies the ionosphere, which is the highest, electrically charged layer of Earth's atmosphere. The main tool at HAARP is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a powerful radio transmitter that sends signals in the high-frequency (HF) range. The IRI is used to briefly energize a small area of the ionosphere. Other tools, such as VHF and UHF radars, a fluxgate magnetometer, a digisonde (a device that measures ionospheric properties), and an induction magnetometer, help scientists observe changes in the ionosphere caused by the IRI. Construction of the HAARP facility began in 1993. At first, it was funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies. The program's original goal was to study the ionosphere and explore ways to improve radio communication and surveillance through ionospheric enhancement. Since 2015, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has operated HAARP.
The current IRI was completed in 2007, with BAE Systems Advanced Technologies as the main contractor. By 2008, HAARP had cost about $250 million in public funds for construction and operation. In May 2014, it was announced that HAARP would be permanently closed later that year. After discussions, ownership of the facility was handed over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in August 2015.
HAARP has been the subject of conspiracy theories, which suggest it can control weather or influence human thoughts. Scientists and critics argue that these claims are not supported by evidence and go beyond what the facility is capable of or what is currently understood in science.
History
The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) started in 1990. Ted Stevens, a Republican U.S. senator from Alaska, helped get approval for the project, and construction began in 1993.
In early May 2013, HAARP was temporarily closed while a change in the company managing the facility was being made. In July 2013, HAARP program manager James Keeney said the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) planned to visit the site as a client to complete research during the fall of 2013 and winter of 2014. The temporary closure was explained as a result of a change in the company responsible for managing the facility. Ahtna, Incorporated, an Alaska Native corporation that serves the region where HAARP is located, was reportedly discussing taking over the management contract from Marsh Creek, LLC.
In May 2014, the U.S. Air Force announced that the HAARP program would be shut down later that year. Although experiments ended in the summer of 2014, the full shutdown and removal of equipment was delayed until at least May 2015. In mid-August 2015, control of the facility and its equipment was handed over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The university now allows researchers to use the facilities for a fee.
Project overview
HAARP began operating in 1999 with a group of 48 antennas and a power of 0.96 megawatts. In 2007, it expanded to a group of 180 antennas with 360 radio transmitters and a power of 9.6 megawatts. HAARP is located on 14 hectares of land near Gakona, which is about 250 kilometers northeast of Anchorage. The signal it sends can be directed anywhere within 30 degrees of straight up.
HAARP sends a signal of 3.6 megawatts into the ionosphere. This signal operates in the 2.8 to 10 megahertz range of the high-frequency (HF) band and can be sent as a continuous signal or in short bursts. Scientists use tools like VHF and UHF radars, HF receivers, and optical cameras to study the effects of the signal and how the ionosphere recovers afterward. According to HAARP researchers, this helps scientists better understand natural processes in the ionosphere caused by the sun’s strong influence. It also helps scientists study how the ionosphere affects radio signals.
The knowledge gained from HAARP can help scientists create ways to reduce the effects of these natural processes. This could improve the reliability of communication and navigation systems, which are used in both civilian and military settings. For example, it might improve GPS accuracy, help with underwater and underground research, and allow better communication with submarines or mapping of underground areas. However, the current facility cannot be used in places like the oil-rich Middle East, though the technology could be moved to a mobile platform.
The HAARP project was originally funded by the Office of Naval Research and jointly managed by the Office of Naval Research and the Air Force Research Laboratory. The University of Alaska Fairbanks played a major role, along with other U.S. universities such as Stanford University, Penn State University (ARL), Boston College, UCLA, Clemson University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MIT, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Tulsa. These universities helped design the project and its instruments and continue to guide future research.
HAARP’s original managers aimed for transparency, and all activities were recorded and made public. This practice continues today under the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Scientists without security clearances, including foreign researchers, are allowed to visit the site, and this remains true today. HAARP holds an annual open house where anyone can tour the facility. Scientific findings from HAARP are regularly published in major research journals, such as Geophysical Research Letters and Journal of Geophysical Research, by both U.S. and international scientists.
Research
HAARP's main goal is to conduct basic science research in the upper part of the atmosphere, called the ionosphere. The ionosphere is an area between the atmosphere and the magnetosphere. Here, the atmosphere is thin enough for the Sun's X-rays and UV rays to reach it, but thick enough to have molecules that can absorb those rays. As a result, the ionosphere has a quick increase in the number of free electrons, starting around 70 km above Earth's surface, peaking at about 300 km, and then decreasing again as the atmosphere becomes very thin by about 1,000 km. HAARP can study all the main layers of the ionosphere.
The ionosphere's structure changes constantly over timescales such as minutes, hours, days, seasons, and years. Near Earth's magnetic poles, the structure becomes even more complex because the strong and nearly vertical direction of Earth's magnetic field can create effects like the aurora.
The ionosphere is very difficult to measure. Balloons cannot reach it because the air is too thin, and satellites cannot orbit there because the air is too thick. Because of this, most experiments on the ionosphere provide only limited information. HAARP studies the ionosphere by using a method similar to an ionospheric heater called EISCAT near Tromsø, Norway. Scientists there first explored the ionosphere by changing it with radio waves in the 2–10 MHz range and observing the ionosphere's response. HAARP performs the same tasks but with more power and a more flexible high-frequency radio beam.
Some of HAARP's main capabilities include research that has helped the U.S. military improve communication with submarines by sending radio signals over long distances.
Instrumentation and operation
The main tool at HAARP is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI). This is a powerful radio transmitter that sends out high-frequency signals using 180 antennas arranged in a grid of 12 rows and 15 columns. These antennas cover an area of about 30 to 40 acres (12 to 16 hectares). The IRI is used to briefly add energy to a small part of the ionosphere. Studying these changes helps scientists learn about natural processes in the ionosphere.
During experiments, the signal from the transmitter is sent upward through the antenna array. At an altitude between 70 and 350 km (43 and 217 miles), the signal is partially absorbed in a small area above the IRI. This area is about several tens of kilometers wide and a few meters thick. The strength of the high-frequency (HF) signal in the ionosphere is less than 3 μW/cm². This is much weaker than the Sun's natural electromagnetic radiation reaching Earth and also much weaker than normal changes in the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) energy, which creates the ionosphere. The small effects caused by the IRI can be measured using sensitive instruments at the HAARP facility. These measurements help scientists study how plasmas behave and understand how the Sun and Earth interact.
Each antenna has a crossed dipole that can send and receive signals in different ways, such as O-mode or X-mode. Each part of the crossed dipoles is connected to a custom-built transmitter that produces very little distortion. The effective radiated power (ERP) of the IRI is limited by more than 10 times at its lowest operating frequencies. This is partly because of higher energy loss in the antennas and less efficient signal patterns.
The IRI can transmit signals between 2.7 and 10 MHz. This range is higher than AM radio frequencies but lower than Citizens' Band frequencies. HAARP is allowed to use only certain parts of this range. When transmitting, the signal uses a bandwidth of 100 kHz or less. The IRI can send continuous waves (CW) or short pulses as brief as 10 microseconds (μs). Continuous waves are usually used to change the ionosphere, while short, repeated pulses are used for radar. Researchers can use both methods in experiments, first altering the ionosphere and then measuring how these changes fade over time.
Other geophysical tools for research are also located at the HAARP facility. Some of these tools include:
The facility is powered by five generators, each producing 2500 kilowatts of energy. These generators are driven by EMD 20-645-E4 diesel engines.
Site
The project site (62°23′30″N 145°09′03″W / 62.39167°N 145.15083°W / 62.39167; -145.15083) is located north of Gakona, Alaska, just west of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. An environmental review allowed the construction of up to 180 antennas. HAARP was built at the former location of an over-the-horizon radar (OTH) installation. A large building that once held the OTH radar now contains the HAARP control room, kitchen, and offices. Other small buildings hold different tools and equipment.
The HAARP site was built in three separate stages:
Related facilities
In the United States, there have been two ionospheric heating facilities: HIPAS, located near Fairbanks, Alaska, which was dismantled in 2009, and another at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which collapsed in 2020. The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) operates an ionospheric heating facility near Tromsø, Norway, that can transmit over 1 gigawatt of effective radiated power (ERP). The Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility, located in Vasilsursk, Russia, near Nizhniy Novgorod, can transmit 190 megawatts of ERP.
Conspiracy theories
HAARP is the subject of many conspiracy theories. Some people have suggested that the project has hidden goals and abilities. For example, Rosalie Bertell warned in 1996 that HAARP might be used as a military weapon. Michel Chossudovsky wrote in a book that "recent scientific evidence suggests HAARP is fully operational and can cause floods, hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes." Over time, HAARP has been blamed for causing natural disasters, such as thunderstorms, in countries like Iran, Pakistan, Haiti, Turkey, Greece, and the Philippines. It has also been linked to major power outages, the crash of TWA Flight 800, Gulf War syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Allegations include the following:
In 1995, Elisabeth Rehn, a Finnish member of the European Parliament, proposed a resolution about using military resources for environmental strategies. The proposal was sent to a committee for review. Magda Aelvoet, a Belgian member of parliament and leader of the Green Group, believed HAARP was a secret weapon. In 1998, Rehn and Aelvoet, influenced by Begich’s theory that HAARP harms the environment, wrote a report based on interviews with only two people: Begich and Rosalie Bertell, who supports the chemtrails conspiracy theory. The United States and NATO did not respond to their request for input. The European Parliament’s report, based on these two testimonies, stated that HAARP has a big effect on the environment and called for an international review of its use.
In 2016, two men from Georgia arrested for drug charges were planning domestic terrorism based on HAARP conspiracy theories. Police said they had weapons, including rifles and thousands of bullets, and wanted to destroy HAARP because they believed it controls weather, minds, and traps souls. They claimed "God told them to destroy the machine to free trapped souls."
Stanford University professor Umran Inan said weather-control theories about HAARP are "not based on facts," explaining that "we cannot affect Earth’s weather systems. HAARP’s power is small compared to lightning, which happens 50 to 100 times every second." Computer scientist David Naiditch called HAARP "a magnet for conspiracy theorists" because its purpose seems mysterious to some people. Journalist Sharon Weinberger compared HAARP to "Moby Dick" in conspiracy theories, saying these ideas often overshadow its scientific benefits. Austin Baird wrote that HAARP is criticized because it does not openly share information about its research. In 2016, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, which manages HAARP, announced an annual open house to allow public tours.
HAARP was discussed again during the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as "COP 27," and linked to conspiracy theories about geo-engineering. After the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, HAARP and the "Blue Beam" project were accused of causing the quakes. In 2024, when the aurora borealis was visible across the Northern Hemisphere in May and October, conspiracy theorists claimed HAARP caused the event.
In popular culture
The HAARP project inspired a live album by the rock band Muse and was the subject of novels such as La Route de Gakona by Jean-Paul Jody [Wikidata].
HAARP is a central element in the 2000 novel Breaking Point by Tom Clancy's Net Force, where it is used to cause mass confusion among groups of people.
The HAARP facility appears in the 2004 video game X-Men Legends. In the game, the X-Men follow the Brotherhood of Mutants to HAARP. The facility in the game is very different from its real-world version, featuring snowy valleys around it and large icy tunnels below. It is protected by a large security team, including armed guards and tanks. The X-Men find the Brotherhood and discover that important information, such as the location of Magneto’s imprisonment, is stored in HAARP’s computers.
In Season 1, Episode 11 of the UPN TV series Seven Days, titled "HAARP Attack," the HAARP project is a major focus. The episode aired on January 27, 1999.
The HAARP project plays a significant role in the G.I. Joe: Resolute miniseries. In the story, Cobra uses the HAARP facility to build a Particle Cannon and threatens the world with destruction unless it surrenders. Although Cobra is later freed from Destro and the Baroness, they retain a smaller but working version of the weapon. Cobra Commander plans to use it to attack random locations until the world surrenders, with Washington, D.C., as the first target. Duke is unable to disable the weapon but manages to change its target to Cobra’s base in Springfield. Despite the attack, Cobra Commander appears to escape the damage.
In the Missing in Alaska series, the episode titled "Zombies of HAARP" suggests that the top-secret government facility HAARP, which uses electromagnetic energy, may be linked to people turning into zombies and disappearing in the Alaska Triangle.