Cloudbuster

A cloudbuster is a device designed by Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), which Reich claimed could produce rain by manipulating what he called "orgone energy" present in the atmosphere.^[1]

The cloudbuster was intended to be used in a way similar to a lightning rod: focusing it on a location in the sky and grounding it in some material that was presumed to absorb orgone—such as a body of water—would draw the orgone energy out of the atmosphere, causing the formation of clouds and rain. Reich conducted dozens of experiments with the cloudbuster, calling the research "Cosmic orgone engineering".^[1]

There have been no verified instances of a cloudbuster actually working and producing noticeable weather change, such as causing rain. Orgone therapy is seen as pseudoscience.^[2]

Remains of a cloudbuster located in Maine

^ ^a ^b
Sharaf, Myron (1994). Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich. Da Capo Press (first published by St. Martin's Press, 1983), pp. 379−380.
- Also see Pilkington, Mark (29 May 2003). "Orgone: cosmic pulse of life". The Guardian.
^ Morrock, Richard (November 1994). "Pseudo-Psychotherapy: UFOs, Cloudbusters, Conspiracies, and Paranoia in Wilhelm Reich's Pyschotherapy". Skeptic magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

[fury-1] Sharaf, Myron (1994). Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich. Da Capo Press (first published by St. Martin's Press, 1983), pp. 379−380.
Also see Pilkington, Mark (29 May 2003). "Orgone: cosmic pulse of life". The Guardian.

[2] Also see Pilkington, Mark (29 May 2003). "Orgone: cosmic pulse of life". The Guardian.

[eskeptic-2] Morrock, Richard (November 1994). "Pseudo-Psychotherapy: UFOs, Cloudbusters, Conspiracies, and Paranoia in Wilhelm Reich's Pyschotherapy". Skeptic magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

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