No, Hurricane Milton was not ‘engineered’

False claims alleging that Hurricane Milton was “engineered” and that Florida’s weather is being “manipulated” have gained significant traction on social media.

Could you explain our current understanding of how hurricanes form? Is there any technology available that allows humans to create or control these storms?

Actually, there is no technology that can generate or control hurricanes. Despite this, numerous posts on platforms like X and TikTok have circulated these baseless allegations, often suggesting that the U.S. government is manipulating the weather, and they’ve received millions of views.

What do you think is fueling the spread of these conspiracy theories, especially from accounts that have previously shared misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines?