HAARP -- Complete Timeline: From Tesla to the Present

HAARP -- Complete Timeline: From Tesla to the Present

Date	Event	Category
December 8, 1915	Nikola Tesla describes in the New York Times a system that could send destructive energy "to any desired point on the globe on its errand of destruction"	Tesla background
September 22, 1940	Tesla tells the New York Times he is prepared to deliver "teleforce" to the U.S. government -- a weapon that would melt airplane engines at 250 miles and create "an invisible Chinese Wall of Defense"	Tesla background
January 7, 1943	Tesla dies alone in Room 3327, the New Yorker Hotel, New York City. Within hours, FBI agents seize his papers under the Office of Alien Property Custodian. MIT reviews the papers; the government concludes nothing of military value is present	Tesla background
April 11, 1985	Bernard Eastlund files U.S. Patent 4,686,605 -- "Method and Apparatus for Altering a Region in the Earth's Atmosphere, Ionosphere, and/or Magnetosphere" -- citing Tesla patents as prior art	Patent
August 11, 1987	U.S. Patent 4,686,605 is granted to APTI Inc. The patent lists weather modification, missile destruction, and global communications disruption as claimed capabilities	Patent
1981	EISCAT (Norway) and Sura (Russia) ionospheric heaters both become operational -- demonstrating parallel global interest in ionospheric research	Global context
1990	HAARP established as a joint program of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and DARPA. The Eastlund patent-holding company APTI is awarded the initial construction contract	HAARP founded
1993	Construction of the HAARP antenna array begins at the Gakona, Alaska site	Construction
1994	Initial HAARP operations begin; first transmitters operational; facility not yet at full power	Operations begin
1994	Raytheon Company acquires APTI -- acquiring the Eastlund patents as part of the transaction	Corporate
1995	Nick Begich and Jeane Manning publish "Angels Don't Play This HAARP: Advances in Tesla Technology" -- the foundational HAARP conspiracy text	Publication
April 28, 1997	Secretary of Defense William Cohen states at a University of Georgia conference: "Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves"	Cohen statement
1998	"Holes in Heaven? HAARP and Advances in Tesla Technology" documentary released; narrated by Martin Sheen	Documentary
January 28, 1999	European Parliament passes resolution calling for HAARP to be "more closely examined" by an independent international body before further research; describes it as "a global concern"	European Parliament
2007	HAARP reaches full operational capability with all 180 antenna elements operational; maximum ERP of 5.1 gigawatts achieved	Full capability
2014	U.S. Air Force announces plans to shut down HAARP; conspiracy researchers claim the military is moving operations elsewhere	Shutdown announcement
August 11, 2015	Ownership and management of HAARP transferred from U.S. Air Force to University of Alaska Fairbanks under a cooperative research and development agreement	Civilian transfer
2016	First public open house held at HAARP under UAF management; begins annual open house policy	Transparency
2009	HIPAS ionospheric heater near Fairbanks, Alaska -- a smaller HAARP predecessor -- is dismantled	Global context
December 1, 2020	Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico -- which had ionospheric heating capability -- collapses; the 305-metre radio telescope dish falls	Global context
2022	China achieves operation of its first molten salt reactor in the Gobi Desert; separately, HAARP artificial airglow experiments become visible to the naked eye over Alaska, triggering new social media attention	Operations
May 2024	Unusually widespread aurora borealis visible across much of the northern hemisphere due to large coronal mass ejections during Solar Cycle 25 maximum; HAARP is immediately blamed on social media; UAF publishes operational status clarifying HAARP was not the cause	Conspiracy attribution
October 2024	Second major aurora event during Solar Cycle 25 peak; HAARP again attributed as the cause by social media users; documented solar activity provides the actual explanation	Conspiracy attribution
Present	HAARP continues to operate under UAF management; approximately 3-4 research campaigns per year; open houses twice annually; conspiracy attributions continue for every major natural disaster and atmospheric anomaly; the 22 years of military research remain in classified archives	Current status