I recently had a post up about the May 2024 HAARP radio transmission tests in Alaska... see HERE

During the HAARP tests which ran from the 8th to 10th of May, there was also a very large aurora  visible on the 10th of May. Apparently many people in the media and public were wondering if the two were connected?

In a statement, HAARP director Jessica Phillips said that the two events were a coincidence and were in no way connected.

Phillips writes... “We have been responding to many inquiries from the media and the public. The HAARP scientific experiments were in no way linked to the solar storm or high auroral activity seen around the globe.” 

The news item on the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska website goes on to say... “The May HAARP campaign was scheduled about a month and a half before the geomagnetic storm. The timing was purely coincidental; geomagnetic storms are unpredictable, with lead times before a solar event is detected from Earth measured in minutes, not months.”

Link... https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/solar-storm-not-haarp-creates-intense-auroral-display

Aurora watching turned into a thing when the largest Geomagnetic Storm in more than two decades gave us Earthlings a spectacular view of the power and majesty of our sun last night.  Sadly, Rhode Island weather wasn’t as cooperative as it could have been, as it was very cloudy until about 3:30 AM this morning.  But that didn’t stop my wife, daughter, and me from heading out at O’dark hundred to see the sights.

View to NW around 3:30 AM near Schartner Farms in Exeter RI

My wife and daughter can be seen on the shore of Barber Pond (POTA US-10548) around 4:00 AM enjoying the celestial display due west

This amazing global display of Auroral activity was spawned by the first few of a large series of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), impacting the Earth Friday afternoon.  This drove the Kp level up to 9 and generated a G5 storm.  While things tapered off a bit this morning, they are back up to a level 8, with several more CMEs due to impact us in the next day.  Those with clear weather may be lucky enough to see more displays tonight.

By the way, viewing the event through recent smartphones will reveal more colors and details than can be seen by the naked eye.  In the examples above, the Aurora was occurring over the West Coast thousands of miles away  Had the sky been clear around 10 PM, the display would have been on top of us.  Nevertheless we could still see the Aurora with our naked eyes, but mostly saw the whitish green colors of the shimmering curtains.

We have an incredible view of the Aurora this evening here in Suffolk. Here’s a few photos my wife and I have taken in the last hour.

More soon …