Rainmaker Drones, Palantir's Thiel Funding, and the Deadly Texas Flood: What We Know

The plot thickens...

This article originally appeared on Jon Fleetwood’s Substack and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Jon Fleetwood

State-authorized drone seeding overlapped with historic Texas floods—documents show Rainmaker had active clearance just days before disaster struck.

A startup backed by billionaire Peter Thiel’s elite fellowship program was actively seeding clouds over Texas just days before historic floods killed over 60 people in early July 2025.

A new Texas bill, SB 1154, seeks to ban government-run geoengineering and weather modification, but it exempts all contracts signed before its September 1, 2025 effective date.

Rainmaker’s Mission: Weather on Demand

Rainmaker Technology Corporation, founded by Augustus Doricko, claims to enhance rainfall using autonomous drones loaded with cloud-seeding chemicals.

The company disperses silver iodide and calcium chloride into storm systems to artificially boost precipitation.

The technology is state-authorized and already in operation across the Western U.S.

In early 2024, Doricko was awarded a Thiel Fellowship, a prestigious $100,000 grant program founded by Peter Thiel that backs high-risk, high-reward ventures from college dropouts and other scientists.

Confirmed Government Contracts in Texas

According to a NOAA weather modification filing dated February 26, 2025 (document ID: 2025TXTP-1), Rainmaker was under contract to perform cloud seeding flights in the Trans Pecos region of Texas from March 15 through October 31, 2025.

The sponsor was the Ward County Irrigation District.

The operation covered a target area of 7,969 square miles and used single-engine aircraft outfitted with flare racks to disperse 40g silver iodide and 1kg calcium chloride flares.

The form also confirms use of National Weather Service radar for guidance, live radar-monitoring software (GR2Analyst, Radarscope), and emergency beacons on board.

Operations were to be suspended during flood or tornado warnings, but no documentation yet shows whether that actually occurred.

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July 2025: Floods Strike in Rainmaker’s Active Zone

The deadliest flooding occurred across South-Central Texas—including Bandera County, where the Camp Mystic tragedy unfolded, killing multiple people in fast-moving water.

Official maps from the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) show that Rainmaker’s authorized seeding operations extend into counties immediately adjacent to Bandera, such as Kerr, Real, Edwards, and Uvalde.

These programs, authorized by the state, were active during the first week of July.

An unverified internal log circulating online claims Rainmaker seeded clouds on July 2, just two days before the flood.

Public records confirm the company had full clearance to operate at that time, but specific flight logs remain unreleased.

$25 Million in New Funding as Drone Network Expands

In July 2025, Axios Pro reported that Rainmaker had secured a $25 million Series A investment round led by Lowercarbon Capital.

Other investors include Starship Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, and prominent Silicon Valley technologists Garry Tan and Naval Ravikant.

CEO Augustus Doricko told Axios that the funds would scale Rainmaker’s drone operations, automate forecasting software, and grow a team of atmospheric scientists.

Rainmaker also confirmed that it has government contracts with the Utah and Colorado Departments of Natural Resources and the Santa Barbara Public Works Department.

Each drone flight reportedly costs $50.04 per hour, including dispersal material and battery recharging.

Compared to conventional manned aircraft seeding, the system is billed as cheaper and more precise.

No Transparency, No Oversight

While cloud seeding is legally required to be reported to NOAA, there is no federal oversight on whether the operations are safe, ethical, or accurately measured post-flight.

Safety procedures exist on paper, but no audits confirm compliance.

Despite operating in multiple states during extreme weather, Rainmaker faces no public accountability or environmental liability.

The FAA does not regulate chemical dispersal from drones in the same way it monitors airspace for other uses.

Thiel, Surveillance, & Climate Engineering

The connection between Rainmaker and Peter Thiel is not incidental.

Thiel is also co-founder of Palantir Technologies, a CIA-backed AI surveillance company currently contracted by the U.S. government to run predictive biosecurity simulations and infrastructure forecasting.

By backing Rainmaker, the Thiel Fellowship has formally entered the geoengineering space, positioning itself at the frontier of weather manipulation.

Critics worry this convergence of private capital, unregulated tech, and state-authorized atmospheric experimentation could lead to disaster without warning.

Did Cloud Seeding Contribute to the Texas Flood?

No government agency has admitted that cloud seeding played a role in the early July flood.

But Rainmaker had the authority, the tools, and potentially the timing.

With no public access to flight logs or chemical dispersal data, the truth may remain hidden unless whistleblowers or lawsuits bring it to light.

This much is clear: Rainmaker, a Thiel-backed startup, is actively modifying weather with drones.

It has contracts across the country.

It was authorized to operate in the Texas flood zone during the time of the disaster.

And no one—not even Congress—has stepped in to investigate.

Copyright 2025 Jon Fleetwood

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