High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program
Project HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is a US Air Force, Navy and University of Alaska funded investigation to "understand, simulate and control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems" started in 1993 for a proposed twenty year experiment.
The investigation site is near Gakona, Alaska (lat. 62.39° N, long 145.15° W). An extensive array of 180 aerial towers was erected at a initial cost of $30m to make the phased array transmitter, named the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI). The intention was to direct an 3600 kW pulse in the 2.8-10 MHz bandwidth into the ionosphere and then to examine the effects of the pulse and the recovery period using associated radar equipment. The constructed towers are similiar in appearance to the abortive Wardenclyffe Tower of Nikola Tesla.
HAARP is the third US ionospheric research sites, the others are near the Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico and near Fairbanks, Alaska. A European research station is based near Tromso in Norway.
The project is a favorite target for conspiracy theorists. The proposed intention of the project is not certain but theories include tests of the ability "to deliver very large amount of energy, comparable to a nuclear bomb, anywhere on earth", "changing weather patterns", "blocking all global communications", "disrupting human mental processes" and mind control, communicating with submarines, and "x-raying the earth".