Still, claims of weather-control technology, once confined to relatively fringe circles, have gained some traction in the Republican Party. In some states, conservative politicians have passed laws that allude to fringe ideas and seek to ban geoengineering, which is used to counteract the effects of climate change.

To anyone who’s ever looked up to the streaks in the sky and asked, What the heck is going on?,” Lee Zeldin has an answer for you.