Pilots get "really violent" threats after online rumors wrongly pin devastating floods on cloud seeding

Sydney — An Australian aviation company says it has received more than 100 threats following an online conspiracy theory that its pilots unleashed a flooding disaster by cloud seeding. Conspiracy theorists spread the false claims on social media after weeks of torrential rains led to deadly east coast floods over the past two months, engulfing homes and sweeping cars from the roads.

Posts shared online alleged aerial survey pilots from Handel Aviation caused a second deluge in the flood-ravaged New South Wales town of Lismore on March 31 by cloud seeding — dispersing a substance into the clouds to prompt rain.

"A pilot from Handel Aviation in Cessna 210N Centurion VH-JIL did a breakfast time cloud seeding run over Lismore South & Ballina today while sightseeing the massive flood below him," one widely shared post reads.