Florida residents have reported a mysterious fog with a ‘chemical’ smell sweeping across parts of the state once again.
The National Weather Service (NWS) shows a dense fog alert near Jacksonville and Tallahassee for Tuesday until Wednesday.
While fog is a common occurrence in the area, Floridians said what they see outside is unnatural.
‘I live in Lake County, it’s so thick. It’s not natural fog,’ one resident shared online.
Another local said the fog looked more like smoke, but no fires have been reported in the area.
‘We have had weird fog here in Florida the last few weeks. I saw fog in the middle of the day going over the Bayside Bridge,’ another Floridian shared.
‘There was fog on one side but not the other it was really weird. Not sure what’s going on.’
Many locals have also reported symptoms associated with exposure to the fog, including coughing, sore throat, congestion, eye irritation, lethargy, loss of appetite and gut issues.
It comes just weeks after another thick fog previously rolled into the area last month that locals also said had a smell of metal.
A person in Naples, Florida shared these images of a dense gray fog along the side of a road Monday, writing: ‘This is chemical weapons not fog.’
New reports this week add to growing fears about the fog, which first appeared in late December and has been reported in multiple US states
A Florida resident told DailyMail.com last month that she stopped at a gas station for about 10 minutes and began feeling ill.
‘Within about and hour, I kept sneezing over and over for about three hours, and my eyes were really puffy,’ she said.
‘I got very warm and I felt like I had a fever, and my stomach was cramping.’
The mysterious fog was first reported in the US in December when people all over the country claimed thick fog with a chemical smell had blanketed their town.
While reports appeared to diminish in the last month, Floridians are again exposed to what they believe is making them sick.
‘I’ve had a fog where I’m at in Florida,’ one local shared on X.
‘It’s been really weird watching it. I started feeling super tired and foggy in my brain, but my neighbors have been super sick. [They had some] coughing a week ago and now her husband has influenza A.’
They have also shared images of a dense, gray fog hanging low over their communities, and many insist that it is some kind of biological or chemical weapon.
On Monday, one X user shared images of the fog and skies filled with streaks of white vapor, writing: ‘More evidence central Florida second week in February most obnoxious fog and chemical spraying you’ve ever seen. I do not consent to this.’
‘It is a blatant poisoning with heavy metal toxins being sprayed in the sky that fall to the Earth and poison your food and water,’ they added.
Floridians have taken to the social media site to express their outrage with state and local officials for not acknowledging the fog, which they see as a direct attack on public health.
‘Governor DeSantis, you have a serious problem with the chemical trails,’ One X user posted Tuesday.
‘They’re putting out a fog that’s showing a very deadly virus in it and these weather manipulations causing these floods and storms are man-made. Please put legislation out to stop that.’
‘Well I step outside my door and more chemical fog that tastes like metal,’ another X user posted.
‘And here I thought my Governor cared enough about his constituents to get this crap out of our f****** skies I guess a lawsuit might be in order pretty soon because this is unhealthy.’
In January, reports of the mysterious fog sparked fears of another ‘Operation Sea Spray.’
For one week in September of 1950, the US Navy sprayed massive amounts of bacteria into the air two miles off the coast of San Francisco, California.
The aim of this secret biological warfare experiment was to learn how vulnerable large US cities like San Francisco would be to a biowarfare attack by terrorists.
The bacteria used were Serratia marcescens, which can cause respiratory issues and meningitis, and Bacillus atrophaeus that can be lethal immunocompromised individuals. At the time, the Navy believed these bacteria were harmless to humans.
But after inhaling thousands of bacterial spores, 11 people checked into Stanford Hospital near San Francisco with very rare, serious urinary tract infections that doctors ultimately determined were caused by the experiment.
Many have speculated that the ‘unnatural’ fog plaguing their states could be part of a similar experiment.
But aside from the reports, experts have stated that there is no evidence to suggest that this ‘sickness-causing’ fog is anything but a co-occurrence of a natural weather event and the viruses that are especially common this time of year.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued dense fog advisories off the coast of coast of Florida from Keaton Beach to Ochlockonee River, from Suwannee River to Keaton Beach, and from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine.
In these areas, dense fog will reduce visibility to one nautical mile or less, according to the NWS. These advisories will remain in effect until 10am Wednesday.
Dense fog is normal for Florida this time of year. In fact, it’s so common that experts refer to the months between late fall to early spring as ‘fog season’ in this state.
What’s more, the ‘chemical’ smell associated with this recent fog is likely not coming from the fog itself, but rather from pollutants that were already present in the air when the fog formed.
Smells become more potent in humid air because the water droplets trap the odor-causing molecules and allow them to linger for longer and remain concentrated, which could explain why so many people are reporting the fog’s strange odor.
The health effects people have been experiencing can also be explained by winter viruses. And being exposed to fog can make certain symptoms feel worse.
Multiple studies have shown that fog can cause respiratory issues such as coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, congestion and wheezing, especially in people with asthma.
That’s because our lungs are designed to inhale oxygen, not water. When we inhale the increased moisture content of the air, it can irritate the respiratory system and trigger uncomfortable symptoms.
Fog can be especially irritating when it is mixed with airborne pollutants, allergens or other particles.
