Jasper National Park wildfire reignites direct energy weapon conspiracies

[Pelican Press 0]

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Jasper National Park wildfire reignites direct energy ******* conspiracies

Screenshot of a Threads post taken August 7, 2024" data-src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/yPwPKmuV3S9GoDPfbMUikA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyNQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/bc1b0474ed724b15ec9fed4b05e57d31">Screenshot of a Threads post taken August 7, 2024

Having

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some 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) and taken the life of one woodland firefighter, the full damage of the ***** had yet to be assessed in early August as officials say it could ***** for months more.

According to Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND), 

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are weapons that use concentrated energy to ******** targets several kilometers away with precision and accuracy.  Such systems are being developed in the ******* States for drone and missile defense, and the ********* DND told AFP its science and technology organization conducts testing with DEWs.

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— which is responsible for firefighting within Jasper —  said that while the cause of the wildfire is still under investigation, lightning was observed immediately prior to the report of the wildfires on July 22 and a DEW strike is not suspected (archived

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).

“There is no evidence that indicates the fires were started by a direct energy *******,” said Parks Canada ***** Information Officer Michelle Macullo in an August 3 email to AFP.

According to the ********* National ***** Database,

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causes about half the wildfires in the country and is responsible for roughly 85 percent of all area burned (archived

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).

Macullo said the ***** hazard was extreme between July 22 and 24, with extra dry conditions, leading up to the most dangerous days in and around Jasper.

“New ***** starts are often beyond control when they are discovered,” Macullo said.

DEW ‘highly unlikely’

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*********** theories about the use of

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to spark wildfires have become

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.

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, director of the University of Colorado’s Center for National Security Initiatives and an expert on directed energy weapons (archived

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), had 

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told AFP that a high-energy laser striking vegetation could hypothetically ignite a *****, but many of the images which circulate claiming to show DEWs starting fires would require a laser so large it could not be flown through the air.

After the continued proliferation of claims about wildfires and DEWs, Boyd wrote in the The Conversation in

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that a concentrated stream of energy surreptitiously igniting any vegetation would be “highly unlikely” since the equipment required would not be able to pass by undetected.

He also pointed out that while many videos used greenish laser beams as alleged evidence of nefarious *****-starting, strikes from a DEW would not be visible.

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Screenshot of a

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post taken August 7, 2024

Alex Tétreault, a spokesman for the *********

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, said the

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does not operate DEWs but

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does conduct testing and experimentation with such weapons.

He said in an August 6 email that safety protocols for these tests can include dispatching trained firefighters and ***** trucks with water on-site to prevent any accidental fires.

“No testing was conducted within the vicinity of the wildfires,” Tétreault added.

In a later August 9 email, DND spokesman Kened Sadiku said the

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in Medicine Hat, Alberta is the only place in Canada where DEWs have been used outside a laboratory setting for testing (archived

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). He said further lab testing with the technology is only conducted at the Valcartier Research Center in Valcartier, Quebec.

Read more of AFP’s reporting on misinformation in Canada

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.

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#Jasper #National #Park #wildfire #reignites #direct #energy #******* #conspiracies

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