10 Dark Conspiracy Theories About Natural Disasters

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the 10 most insane conspiracies about natural phenomena.

#10: California Drought Manipulation & Not-So-Wild-Fires

For years, conspiracy theorists have claimed Californias devastating droughts and wildfires werent natural disasters. They blame everything from secret tech to government interference. Remember Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jewish Space lasers? Others believe wildfires were intentionally started to force people off valuable land or clear the way for infrastructure projects. After fires tore through Paradise and Maui, conspiracy theories lit up too. TikTok was flooded with clips of untouched trees next to burned homes. People claimed the blazes were too clean, too targeted. Experts point to dry conditions, high winds, and aging infrastructure. But online, these claims spread faster than a brush fire.

#9: Tectonic Bombs

What if earthquakes were less acts of God and more acts of war? Thats the fear behind tectonic bomb conspiracies. The idea: detonate a nuke underground, trigger a fault line, and boom: instant earthquake. The theory dates back to at least the Cold War, when both the U.S. and USSR were rumored to be experimenting with seismic weapons. Some claim these earthquake machines are real and still in use. The American government, they say, uses nature's most savage forces to manipulate geopolitics to its will. Scientists say the logistics dont add up. But for conspiracy theorists every quake has the government's fingerprints all over it.

#8: Nibiru Cataclysm & Pole Shift

Its the doomsday theory that just wont die. Believers say that a hidden planet x - named Nibiru - is lurking in the outer solar system. It's invisible to the public, somehow, while on a collision course with Earth. When it gets close, itll trigger a catastrophic pole shift, massive earthquakes, flooding, and wipe out modern civilization. The theory gained steam in the early 2000s, tied to apocalyptic predictions like the 2012 Mayan calendar scare. NASA has publicly debunked it multiple times, stating Nibiru doesnt exist. The paranoia lives on in the dark corners of the internet. Some say earthquakes and climate change are warning signs. The governments of the world are, of course, hiding the truth from us all to avoid global panic.

#7: Iranian Earthquakes Are a Nuclear Coverup

When a major earthquake hit Iran in 2024, conspiracy theories came faster than the aftershocks. Some claimed it wasnt natural at all - the earth shook thanks to a secret Iranian nuclear test gone wrong. Irans underground facilities are being used to detonate nukes under the radar. The earthquakes, they say, are just the fallout. Videos and social media posts pointed to suspicious seismic readings and odd military movements. Some even accused Iran of staging quakes to hide weapons research. Scientists get deeply frustrated by the misinformation. The region sits directly above an active fault and has a long history of deadly tremors. But for conspiracy theorists, every tremor near a nuclear site raises both eyebrows and questions.

#6: The Panoply of Climate Change Conspiracies

To some conspiracy theorists, climate change isnt an existential crisis - its a cover-up. A new climate change is a hoax theory seems to pop up every year. Rising temperatures and wild storms aren't caused by carbon emissions, no no no. They're deliberate manipulation. The culprit behind the curtain varies from theory to theory. They range from governments and global elites to aliens or shady corporations. Someone is using geoengineering to reshape the planet. The motives are just as scattered: profit, population control, white genocide - you name it. Some even believe billionaire-backed weather tech is fabricating disasters to drive up food prices or force migration. The science overwhelmingly supports human-caused climate change. For true believers, science is just smoke and mirrors.

#5: Fogvid-24

In 2024, dense, lingering fog rolled across parts of the UK, Canada, and the U.S. The lunatic fringe of the internet lost its mind. Dubbed Fogvid-24, the haze sparked conspiracy theories faster than it cleared up. Some claimed it was a secret government test. Others blamed alien activity, mind control experiments, or chemical dispersal to calm the population. TikTok lit up with videos of fog blocking cell signals. Users claimed to have lost chunks of memory. Some even said that something in the fog took their pets and animals. One viral post suggested the fog itself was alive. Meteorologists blamed unusual climate conditions, but conspiracists wouldn't hear it. It was the perfect storm for conspiracy fodder: creepy, unexplained, and everywhere.

#4: Jade Helm Paranoia

In 2015, a routine U.S. military training exercise called Jade Helm 15 spiraled into full-blown online chaos. Some believed the government was using the drill to prepare for martial law. Others went deeper down the rabbit hole. The real goal, they claimed, was to test weather weapons or stage a fake natural disaster. Online theorists warned of engineered hurricanes, earthquakes, and even asteroid strikes. Walmart stores were rumored to be FEMA camps. Texas officials were so swamped with so many calls that they actually sent observers to monitor the exercise. To believers, Jade Helm was the dress rehearsal for climate doomsday.

#3: Israeli Nukes & Fukushima

After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, conspiracy theories wasted no time. The strangest, thankfully, didn't catch on. One man proposed that Israel planted a nuclear weapon at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. He claimed it was revenge for Japan siding with Palestine at the UN. The theory originated with conspiracy theorist Jim Stone. Stone said the plot had two stages: first, a bomb in the Pacific to generate a tsunami. Next, Israel detonated a bomb inside the facility that was smuggled in disguised as a camera. Scientists and global agencies have obviously debunked the theory. But in some corners of the internet, Fukushima was an act of nuclear sabotage hiding in plain sight.

#2: US Mole-Men Caused Haitian Quakes

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti absolutely devastated the small island nation, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing many more. In the years since, the internet reflected on the disaster with its usual insane lack of sensitivity. One conspiracy claimed the quake wasnt any normal government conspiracy. The U.S. Government, they said, had sent in the mole men. According to the story, American forces were digging secret tunnels beneath the Caribbean. Their machines accidentally triggered seismic activity. Some posts even claimed the mission was to fight underground aliens. The theory was filled with fake maps, military slang, and zero evidence. Still, it spread across forums and blogs like wildfire.

#1: HAARP, Chemtrails & Weather Control

The skies are being weaponized by the world governments. At the center of the plot is HAARP - a real U.S. research program in Alaska. If there is a natural disaster, there's a good chance HAARP was at one point blamed for it. They've been accused of steering hurricanes, triggering quakes, and mind control. Add chemtrails, and the theory gets even wilder: jets spraying chemicals to control weather, behavior, or both. One viral claim says hurricanes are aimed at Republicans. Others blame weather tech for floods in Brazil. The UKs Project Cumulus was tied by theorists to the deadly 1952 Lynmouth Flood. In 2008, Chinas Weather Modification Office reportedly cleared skies for the Beijing Olympics - proof, some say, that weather can be controlled.

Which of these conspiracies got under your skin? Let us know in the comments below!