How the ‘Chemtrails’ Conspiracy Theory Is Sabotaging One Company

Did you know that it's possible to artificially create rain? I didn't. But the technology has actually been around for decades. It's called cloud seeding. Cloud seeding was invented in 1946 by General Electric scientists in Upstate New York. And what they were trying to do was to find a solution to the icing on airplane wings. That's our colleague Chris Marr. And they discovered that when they put dry ice into clouds and a simulated experiment, it produced ice crystals like snow. So it really was a way to squeeze more water, more moisture out of clouds than would traditionally be falling naturally. Typically, the way it works is an airplane flies into a bunch of clouds and releases a type of salt called silver iodide. The water particles attach to the tiny bit of salt and form rain or snow. What I discovered in kind of looking back through the history of the cloud seeding was that in the seventies, that was kind of considered the heyday. It was used much more commonly, but the usage fell off. That's because it was hard to measure how well cloud seeding was working. The technology still had a ways to go, and it also seemed a little unnatural to some people. It does have that sort of mysterious element to it that you can affect, you know, natural weather systems, things in nature. Also, people have questions about whether people should interfere with nature, you know, whether we should try to influence it or to what degree. Today, thanks to new technology, cloud seeding has seen somewhat of a comeback, especially in states where droughts have gotten dramatically worse. States like Utah, Nevada, California, Western states that are tend to be dry, they've had a lot of droughts in the past few decades. There's hope that cloud seeding can help solve the massive water crisis out west, except the misgivings about the technology won't go away. And now, cloud seeding is caught up in full blown conspiracy theories. Cloud seeding has gotten mixed into some of these weather conspiracies, and they've sort of accelerated because of social media, because of fears, anxieties over climate change, making these conspiracies even more prevalent today. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Wednesday, December 17. Coming up on the show, the push to make more rain, and the conspiracy theories getting in the way. This episode is brought to you by US Bank. They don't just cheer you on, they help every move count. With US Bank Smartly checking and savings account to help track your spending and grow your savings, your finances can go further. Because when you have the right partner on your side, there's no limit to what you can achieve. That's the power of us. Visit usbank.com today to learn more. Copyright 2025 US Bank. This episode is brought to you by UnitedHealth Group. The average American spends more than $1,200 …