The problem with the claims is that cloud seeding has not been a clandestine practice as the video claims, but has been discussed and studied in the open. Those studies, conducted over decades, have also found that the level of silver iodide used in seeding is so small it has had no noticeable effect on the environment, wildlife or the air breathed by people nearby.

The acetone, which is used when releasing silver iodide particles from the ground, converts into water and carbon dioxide, a spokesperson for the agency said.

Yet the conspiracy has seemed to piggyback off of other unfounded theories, such as chemtrails.

Some of the accounts pushing the conspiracy theory on TikTok and Instagram have tens of thousands of followers and have peddled other conspiracy theories, such as claims that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was orchestrated by the FBI, that world governments are in fact run by a secret cabal known as the New World Order, and that popular singer Taylor Swift is a psychological operation orchestrated by the Pentagon.

But like other misinformation that has infected social media platforms, the conspiracy has spread into the real world. In San Diego, one resident blamed the county Board of Supervisors for the flooding and damage caused by the recent storms.

"You guys seeded us on purpose," the resident said during the board's Feb. 6 meeting. "You destroyed these people's homes. They didn't have flood insurance, but you all knew that."

The resident, identified as "Kiera," wore a black hat that read, "COVID's a scam." Video of her comments has been shared on social media, pushing the unfounded claim that water seeding was to blame for the storms.

To back up her claim, the resident cited the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority's cloud-seeding program, even though the agency does not operate in San Diego County and the program is not being conducted there.

The resident also alluded to chemtrails.

"You don't think that anything is going on in the skies that you see?" she said. "We've seen those for years."

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