I saw an uptick in traffic to an old SpaceX news article a couple of days ago. First, a few lots visitors. Then, a few hundred. And today, thousands. What the heck? The article itself is exceptionally lackluster. It was a reason to run a picture gallery depicting a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, as it was then known, in May 2018. This Iridium NEXT-6 objective launched 5 communications satellites for the private company Iridium and a small NASA satellite. About the only thing significant about this mission is that the first-stage booster was reused from the mysteriously lost Zuma launch a few months earlier. Anyhow, the California liftoff looked incredibly cool because it was an uncommon launch from Vandenberg amidst clear skies. All told, the post was perhaps 100 words and a dozen photos. Nevertheless, among them, the second photo in the gallery, was a long-exposure “streak shot “that showed the pillar of flame beneath the rocket’s climb.
That photo appears at the top of this article. It’s a stunning picture. In casual conversation a few months later on, the SpaceX photographer who took the shot thanked me for sharing it. Which was completion of it for more than five years– up until the awful and terrible break out of wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui in early August. The precise causes of the wildfires are complicated and likely intertwined with climate modification
, but in the huge picture, they involved dry spell conditions in the area and strong high pressure to the north of the islands that produced extremely gusty winds.
Once the wildfires sparked on Maui, near Lahaina, they spread out quickly. The result has been at least 99 verified deaths, with many hundreds more missing. However for some individuals, that description is too hassle-free. Isn’t Hawaii expected to be this lush, green paradise? So, as is frequently the case with major news stories in the United States and all over the world, conspiracy theory vultures began gushing outrageous ideas in the immediate aftermath. One example is this video, which appeared on Rumble, and associated the wildfires to a” directed energy weapon.”Yes, space lasers did this, according to the Maui wildfire truthers. Now, directed energy weapons are a genuine thing. The US Navy utilizes high-energy lasers to give off photons that can produce quantifiablephysical damage. However there is no effective ability like this in space, not to mention something that could harm or damage targets on Earth. To believe this is the case, one would have to basically misunderstand the power needs in area for such the power and a weapon abilities of existing satellites today. So where’s the proof for such a grand claim? According to the Maui truthers, it can be found in the previously mentioned Falcon 9 launch image from May 2018. The lovely Falcon 9 streak image has actually been used on Facebook, Reddit, Truth Social, and definitely other dens of conspiracy theories to supposedly show a directed energy weapon in action, blasting a target
on the surface of Earth. This is, of course, complete nonsense. If you live in truth, that is. While digging into the bunny hole of conspiracy theorists and directed energy weapons, I discovered that they are often conflated with the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program(HAARP )and the federal government’s control of the weather. I do not advise that rabbit hole, by the way. If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably a pretty good individual. Because case, you might wish to think about sharing
some Aloha with individuals of Maui. I would suggest the Maui Food Bank or the Hawai’i Community Foundation. Both are trustworthy, local charities in the very best position to provide immediate aid to those in requirement.