Original article (in Serbian) was published on 15/11/2023; Author: Ivan Subotić
At the start of November, a rare phenomenon graced the skies above the Serbian region of Vojvodina. Residents in the northern part of the country, as well as throughout the region, were taken aback when the sky suddenly turned reddish—a spectacle attributed to the polar lights, commonly known as the aurora borealis. This natural phenomenon is typically observed in areas much closer to the Earth’s magnetic pole.
While many marveled at this unexpected celestial display, some began speculating that something might be amiss. About 750 people shared a Facebook post by Sasa Borojevic, an analyst with a reputation for spreading disinformation. Borojevic claimed that HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) was responsible for the unusual aurora visible in the region.
Borojevic linked the sky phenomenon to HAARP, citing a statement from the HAARP research facility. According to the statement, HAARP planned to conduct a research campaign from November 4 to 7, focusing on the study of artificial aurora and “very low-frequency/extremely low-frequency radio waves (VLF/ELF).”
However, what Borojevic failed to convey in his post is that the mentioned “artificial glow of the air” he mentioned will be only visible in a radius of about 500 kilometers around the HAARP facility located in Alaska, more than 8,000 kilometers away from Serbia. This information is stated in the so-called “Transmission Notice” addressed to the radio-amateur and radio-astronomy communities from the HAARP facility, i.e. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, under whose control HAARP is.
Cirkovic: Polar light far from the Earth’s magnetic poles rare, but not impossible
To fully clarify whether the aurora that was seen in the region at the beginning of the week has anything to do with research at HAARP, Fake News Tracker contacted the astrophysicist and cosmologist Milan Cirkovic from the Astronomical Observatory in Belgrade.
“The aurora in Vojvodina, just like the aurora in Norway, Russia, Japan, Chile, Australia, Madagascar, France or anywhere else, is caused by the interaction of the solar wind and other forms of cosmic radiation with the upper layers of our planet’s atmosphere, and there is no reason why it would be special in any way in Vojvodina. The aurora is indeed less and less visible as we move further from the Earth’s magnetic poles, but ‘less often’ means exactly that: sometimes, not never”, explained Cirkovic.
Addressing our question about how was it possible to see the aurora borealis in our region, Cirkovic points out that such a phenomenon is not unusual and that it has happened before.
“Aurora borealis is not some strange or never seen before or incomprehensible phenomenon, it is sometimes seen far, far south; there are findings from ancient writings that it was seen from ancient Greece and the Greek islands, so now let everyone think about which HAARP was active at that time. Then, about fifteen years ago, it was seen in Petnica near Valjevo, where the participants of the astronomy and astrophotography seminar took great pictures”, said Cirkovic for FN Tracker.
Finally, Cirkovic told FNT that the more frequent occurrences of aurora borealis lately are not such a strange phenomenon because “we are in increased solar activity this year, the maximum will be sometime during 2024-2025 and that’s all, not only natural, but the definition of natural since cycles of solar activity have been changing at a regular pace for at least two billion years”.