The Documentary Podcast - Floods hit Texas, then came the cloud talk

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BBC Trending: Why are some Americans yelling at clouds?

On 4 July, just hours after flash floods hit the US state of Texas, killing more than 130 people, social media was inundated with unfounded theories about the causes of this tragedy.

The main allegation was that the extreme rainfall was somehow man-made, with many users blaming Rainmaker, a weather modification company based in California.

These baseless claims were quickly debunked by scientists.

And yet, online, calls for the company’s CEO, Augustus Doricko, to be arrested, punished - or, more sinisterly, executed - continued to multiply.

Suggestions that sinister forces may be controlling the weather by spraying chemicals in the atmosphere may have once been the preserve of niche websites and forums. Not anymore.

As several US states consider banning weather modification and geoengineering, BBC Trending investigates how fringe conspiracy theories have gone mainstream.

Reporter: Marco Silva
Editor: Flora Carmichael

Published on Wednesday, 3rd September 2025.

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