There are countless strange conspiracies theories swirling about the government and shadowy organizations lurking out in the gloom past what we usually see. Everything from mind control, to hidden spaceships, to weird government experiments, and much, much more, the field of conspiracy theories is a minefield. One of the more bizarre and pervasive of these in recent times has been the idea that the government, Illuminati, whatever you want to call “them,” is using advanced weaponry to cause forest fires around California.
On December 4, 2017, a blaze ignited near the city of Santa Paula, in Ventura, California, and while normally it might not have been the tragedy it was to become, aided by record Santa Ana winds the fire proved to be extremely fast. In an alarmingly short amount of time the fire exploded outward, expanding out of control to engulf large swaths of both Ventura and Santa Barbara counties while creating other offshoot blazes along the way. The hungry fire and its spawn were well fed with the dry brush of the rugged mountain terrain, and it was all was soon a hulking beast of a fire the likes of which no one had ever seen. By the time what would collectively be called The Charles Fire was finally contained on January 12, 2018, it had devastated approximately 281,893 acres, forced over 100, 000 people to evacuate, and had caused immeasurable destruction of property and agriculture, vast economic damage, and dozens of tragic deaths. It was the largest wildfire in modern California history, even generating its own weather, and at one point fought by an army of over 8,500 firefighters, the largest mobilization in history, who fought battles with multiple fires on many fronts.