By Reuters Staff
Correction February 24, 2021: Correcting spelling of Phil Plait’s name
FILE PHOTO: A man walks to his friend s home in a neighbourhood without electricity as snow covers the BlackHawk neighborhood in Pflugerville, Texas, U.S. February 15, 2021. Picture taken February 15, 2021. Bronte Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman/USA Today Network via REUTERS. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo
As a devastating winter storm hit Texas for days, viral videos started circulating on social media, claiming that the snow was “fake” or “created by the government”. As evidence, users claimed to show that when a lighter was brought close to a snowball, it burned instead of melting. This reaction, however, has a scientific explanation behind it and is not evidence of “fake” snow. Conspiracy theories about “man-made snow” have been repeatedly debunked in the past.