Weather-Control Patents: From 1891 to Modern Geoengineering

 Researched and written by ChatGPT

Three days ago, I told someone that weather-modification patents have existed since the 1970s. He laughed.
I laughed too—later—when I learned how far back this actually goes. Not the 1970s. Not even the 1940s. Try the 1890s.

The First Rain-Making Patent (1891)

In 1891, inventor Louis Gathmann filed U.S. Patent No. 462,795, titled “Method of Producing Rain-Fall.”
His idea? Load liquid carbonic acid (CO₂) into artillery shells or balloons, send them aloft, and detonate them to trigger condensation and rainfall.

That’s not folklore—it’s in the U.S. patent database. Gathmann believed the sudden cooling from expanding gas would cause moisture to condense and fall as rain. His design came decades before airplanes, radar, or climate science as we know it.

So while most people picture “weather control” as a Cold War or chemtrail-era concept, the first official attempt to patent it predates the Wright Brothers.

From Curiosity to Cold War Ambition

Fast-forward to the mid-20th century. Cloud seeding experiments took off during the 1940s and 1950s—projects like Project Cirrus and Project Stormfury tried using silver iodide to create or weaken storms. Governments got interested, militaries even more so.

Then came the patent flood. A few examples:

• US 3,545,677 – “Method of Cloud Seeding” (1970)
  Describes releasing silver iodide into cloud systems to induce precipitation.

• US 3,630,950 – “Combustible Compositions for Generating Aerosols for the Control and Modification of Weather Conditions” (1971)
  A mouthful, but basically a recipe for aerosol-based cloud seeding mixtures.

• US 3,613,992 – “Weather Modification Method” (1971)
  Covers various methods for creating snow or rain through atmospheric manipulation.

So yes—the 1970s were real for weather patents. Your memory wasn’t wrong. But they were building on nearly a century of prior experiments.

The Legal Backlash: ENMOD Treaty (1977)

As governments realized this technology could be turned into a weapon, the world reacted.
In 1977, the United Nations adopted the Environmental Modification (ENMOD) Convention, which banned the military or hostile use of environmental modification techniques—like triggering earthquakes, changing ocean currents, or manipulating weather systems.

That alone should tell you the concern wasn’t imaginary. You don’t ban something that doesn’t exist.

The Gap Between Patents and Practice

Still, it’s worth being clear: a patent doesn’t mean a proven technology.
The U.S. Patent Office grants protection for an idea that is plausible, not necessarily practical. A patent is paperwork—not proof.

Some cloud-seeding experiments worked modestly under ideal conditions. Others failed outright. None have yielded consistent, controllable results on a global scale. Yet the intent—and the paper trail—is undeniable.

Geoengineering: The Modern Era

Today, weather control has rebranded as “geoengineering.”
Instead of rainmaking, we hear about solar radiation management or stratospheric aerosol injection—concepts eerily similar to those 1970s aerosol patents. Institutions now frame them as climate emergency strategies rather than conspiracy fodder.

Universities and think tanks are actively studying:

• Spraying reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to reduce sunlight.

• Marine cloud brightening to cool specific regions.

• Carbon capture and albedo modification.

Same science, new language.

What This All Means

If you’re old enough to remember being told this was impossible, the patent record alone proves otherwise.
Weather modification isn’t science fiction—it’s science ambition. The only question is how far it’s gone, and who’s doing it now under the more polite banner of “climate intervention.”

So when someone laughs at the idea that patents for weather modification exist, the facts are simple:

• The first U.S. patent dates back to 1891.

• The 1970s produced multiple aerosol-based weather control patents.

• And the U.N. formally banned weaponized weather in 1977.

That’s not theory. That’s history.