High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program The High Frequency Active Aurora l Research Program ( HAARP ) is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U . S . Air Force , the U . S . Navy , the University of Alaska , and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) . Research done at the HAARP facility has allowed the US military to perfect communications with its fleet of submarines by sending radio signals over long distances . Designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies ( BAEAT ) , its purpose is to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance . The HAARP program operates a major sub - arctic facility , named the HAARP Research Station , on an Air Force – owned site near Gakona , Alaska . The most prominent instrument at the HAARP Station is the Ionospheric Research Instrument ( IRI ) , a high - power radio frequency transmitter facility operating in the high frequency ( HF ) band . The IRI is used to temporarily excite a limited area of the Ionosphere . Other instruments , such as a VHF and a UHF radar , a fluxgate magnetometer , a digisonde ( an ionospheric sounding device ) , and an induction magnetometer , are used to study the physical processes that occur in the excited region . Work on the HAARP Station began in 1993 . The current working IRI was completed in 2007 , and its prime contractor was BAE Systems Advanced Technologies . As of 2008 , HAARP had incurred around $ 250 million in tax - funded construction and operating costs . HAARP has been blamed by for a range of events , including numerous natural disaster s , outbreaks , global warming , global cooling , volcanoes , even assassinations of individuals . Commentators and scientists say that proponents of these theories are " uninformed " as most theories put forward fall well outside the abilities of the facility and often outside the scope of natural science and defy physics . The HAARP facility was reported to be temporarily shut down in May 2013 , awaiting a change of contractors . Overview . The HAARP project directs a 3 . 6 MW signal , in the 2 . 8 – 10 MHz region of the HF ( high - frequency ) band , into the ionosphere . The signal may be pulsed or continuous . Then , effects of the transmission and any recovery period can be examined using associated instrumentation , including VHF and UHF radars , HF receivers , and optical cameras . According to the HAARP team , this will advance the study of basic natural processes that occur in the ionosphere under the natural but much stronger influence of solar interaction , and how the natural ionosphere affects radio signals . This will enable scientists to develop methods to mitigate these effects to improve the reliability or performance of communication and navigation systems which would have a wide range of both civilian and military uses , such as an increased accuracy of GPS navigation and advances in underwater and underground research and applications . This may lead to improved methods for submarine communication or an ability to remotely sense and map the mineral content of the terrestrial subsurface , and perhaps underground complexes , of regions or countries , among other things . The current facility lacks range to be used in regions like the Middle East , according to one of the researchers involved , but the technology could be put on a mobile platform . The HAARP program began in 1990 . The project is funded by the Office of Naval Research and jointly managed by the ONR and Air Force Research Laboratory , with the principal involvement of the University of Alaska . Many other universities and educational institutions of the United States have been involved in the development of the project and its instruments , namely the University of Alaska Fairbanks , Stanford University , Penn State University ( ARL ) , Boston College , UCLA , Clemson University , Dartmouth College , Cornell University , Johns Hopkins University , University of Maryland , College Park , University of Massachusetts Amherst , MIT , Polytechnic Institute of New York University , and the University of Tulsa . The project ' s specifications were developed by the universities , which are continuing to play a major role in the design of future research efforts . According to HAARP ' s management , the project strives for openness , and all activities are logged and publicly available . Scientists without security clearances , even foreign nationals , are routinely allowed on site . The HAARP facility regularly ( once a year on most years according to the HAARP home page ) hosts open houses , during which time any civilian may tour the entire facility . In addition , scientific results obtained with HAARP are routinely published in major research journals ( such as " Geophysical Research Letters " , or " Journal of Geophysical Research " ) , written both by university scientists ( American and foreign ) or by U . S . Department of Defense research lab scientists . Each summer , the HAARP holds a summer school for visiting students , including foreign nationals , giving them an opportunity to do research with one of the world ' s foremost research instruments . Research . HAARP ' s main goal is basic science research of the uppermost portion of the atmosphere , termed the ionosphere . Essentially a transition between the atmosphere and the magnetosphere , the ionosphere is where the atmosphere is thin enough that the sun ' s X - rays and UV rays can reach it , but thick enough that there are still enough molecules present to absorb those rays . Consequently , the ionosphere consists of a rapid increase in density of free electrons , beginning at ~ 70 km , reaching a peak at ~ 300 km , and then falling off again as the atmosphere disappears entirely by ~ 1 , 000 km . Various aspects of HAARP can study all of the main layers of the ionosphere . The profile of the ionosphere is highly variable , changing constantly on timescales of minutes , hours , days , seasons , and years . This profile becomes even more complex near Earth ' s magnetic poles , where the nearly vertical alignment and intensity of earth ' s magnetic field can cause physical effects like aurorae . The ionosphere is traditionally very difficult to measure . Balloons cannot reach it because the air is too thin , but satellites cannot orbit there because the air is still too thick . Hence , most experiments on the ionosphere give only small pieces of information . HAARP approaches the study of the ionosphere by following in the footsteps of an ionospheric heater called EISCAT near Tromsø , Norway . There , scientists pioneered exploration of the ionosphere by perturbing it with radio waves in the 2 – 10 MHz range , and studying how the ionosphere reacts . HAARP performs the same functions but with more power and a more flexible and agile HF beam . Some of the main scientific findings from HAARP include Research at the HAARP includes Instrumentation and operation . The main instrument at HAARP Station is the Ionospheric Research Instrument ( IRI ) . This is a high power , high - frequency phased array radio transmitter with a set of 180 antennas , disposed in an array of 12x15 units that occupy a rectangle of about 33 acres ( 13 hectares ) . The IRI is used to temporarily energize a small portion of the ionosphere . The study of these disturbed volumes yields important information for understanding natural ionospheric processes . During active ionospheric research , the signal generated by the transmitter system is delivered to the antenna array and transmitted in an upward direction . At an altitude between to ( depending on operating frequency ) , the signal is partially absorbed in a small volume several tens of kilometers in diameter and a few meters thick over the IRI . The intensity of the HF signal in the ionosphere is less than 3 µW / cm² , tens of thousands of times less than the Sun ' s natural electromagnetic radiation reaching the earth and hundreds of times less than even the normal random variations in intensity of the Sun ' s natural ultraviolet ( UV ) energy which creates the ionosphere . The small effects that are produced , however , can be observed with the sensitive scientific instruments installed at the HAARP Station , and these observations can provide information about the dynamics of plasmas and insight into the processes of solar - terrestrial interactions . Each antenna element consists of a crossed dipole that can be polarized for linear , ordinary mode ( O - mode ) , or extraordinary mode ( X - mode ) transmission and reception . Each part of the two section crossed dipoles are individually fed from a custom built transmitter , that has been specially designed with very low distortion . The Effective Radiated Power ( ERP ) of the IRI is limited by more than a factor of 10 at its lower operating frequencies . Much of this is due to higher antenna losses and a less efficient antenna pattern . The IRI can transmit between 2 . 7 and 10 MHz , a frequency range that lies above the AM radio broadcast band and well below Citizens ' Band frequency allocations . The HAARP Station is licensed to transmit only in certain segments of this frequency range , however . When the IRI is transmitting , the bandwidth of the transmitted signal is 100 kHz or less . The IRI can transmit in continuous waves ( CW ) or in pulses as short as 10 microseconds ( µs ) . CW transmission is generally used for ionospheric modification , while transmission in short pulses frequently repeated is used as a radar system . Researchers can run experiments that use both modes of transmission , first modifying the ionosphere for a predetermined amount of time , then measuring the decay of modification effects with pulsed transmissions . There are other geophysical instruments for research at the Station . Some of them are : The Station is powered by a set of five ( 5 ) 2500 kilowatt generators being driven by EMD 20 - 645 - E4 diesel locomotive engines . Site . The project site ( ) is north of Gakona , Alaska just west of Wrangell - Saint Elias National Park . An environmental impact statement led to permission for an array of up to 180 antennas to be erected . The HAARP has been constructed at the previous site of an over - the - horizon radar ( OTH ) installation . A large structure , built to house the OTH now houses the HAARP control room , kitchen , and offices . Several other small structures house various instruments . The HAARP site has been constructed in three distinct phases : Related facilities . In America , there are two related ionospheric heating facilities : the HIPAS , near Fairbanks , Alaska , which was dismantled in 2009 , and ( currently offline for reconstruction ) one at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico . The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association ( EISCAT ) operates an ionospheric heating facility , capable of transmitting over 1 GW effective radiated power ( ERP ) , near Tromsø , Norway . Russia has the Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility , in Vasilsursk near Nizhniy Novgorod , capable of transmitting 190 MW ERP . Conspiracy theories . HAARP is the subject of numerous conspiracy theories . Various individuals have speculated hidden motives and capabilities to the project , and have blamed it for triggering catastrophes such as floods , droughts , hurricanes , thunderstorms , earthquakes in Iran , Pakistan , Haiti and the Philippines , major power outage s , the downing of TWA Flight 800 , Gulf War syndrome , and chronic fatigue syndrome . Allegations include the following : Stanford University professor Umran Inan told Popular Science that weather - control conspiracy theories were “ completely uninformed , ” explaining that “ there ’ s absolutely nothing we can do to disturb the Earth ’ s [ weather ] systems . Even though the power HAARP radiates is very large , it ’ s minuscule compared with the power of a lightning flash — and there are 50 to 100 lightning flashes every second . HAARP ’ s intensity is very small . ” Computer scientist David Naiditch characterizes HAARP as " a magnet for conspiracy theorists " , saying that HAARP attracts their attention because " its purpose seems deeply mysterious to the scientifically uninformed " . Journalist Sharon Weinberger called HAARP " the Moby Dick of conspiracy theories " and said the popularity of conspiracy theories often overshadows the benefits HAARP may provide to the scientific community . Austin Baird writing in the Alaska Dispatch said , " What makes HAARP susceptible to conspiracy criticism is simple . The facility doesn ' t open its doors in the same way as other federally - funded research facilities around the country , and it doesn ' t go to great efforts to explain the importance of its research to the public . " In popular culture . HAARP has been dramatized in popular culture by Marvel Comics , in the " Tom Clancy ' s Net Force " series ( in the novel " Breaking Point " ) , and " The X - Files " . A fictionalized HAARP was the setting for a stage in the " X - Men Legends " game . HAARP was featured in the animated series " " and in the first episode of " Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura " . The alternative rock band Muse named a live album after this facility . HAARP ' s various antennas also inspired the set design for the performance , which was recorded live at Wembley Stadium . HAARP was mentioned in the movie Remo Williams - The Legend Begins . ( 85 ' ) Shutdown . HAARP was shut down in early May 2013 , awaiting a change between contractors who operate the facility . According to HAARP program manager James Keeney , " Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) is expected on site as a client to finish up some research in fall 2013 and winter 2014 . " The temporary shutdown was described as being due to " a contractor regime change . " The Alaska Native corporation Ahtna , Incorporated is reportedly in talks to take over the facility administration contract from Marsh Creek , LLC .