Earlier this year, NASA scientists and even the CDC issued warnings concerning the oncoming solar minimum, a recurring calm period in the Sun’s weather cycle. These breaks in solar storms and solar flares can cause all sorts of fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field, disrupt communications networks, and even allow more cosmic radiation to reach the Earth. Most of us little people here on Earth's surface aren’t affected by this radiation, but individuals who spend significant time at high altitude are at risk due to their higher amounts of exposure.
Throughout 2017, radiation levels were observed to spike suddenly on flights around the world, prompting NASA to launch a new RadX satellite to track ‘clouds’ of cosmic radiation to help protect flight crews. More recently, several flights over the last month have been grounded around the world for mass illnesses with oddly familar-sounding symptoms. On December 20th, a Jetstar Airbus flying from Cairns to Coolangatta in Queensland, Australia had to make an emergency landing when all six crew became stricken by dizziness, nausea, and lightheadedness. The six crew members were taken to a hospital for treatment. A similar incident happened weeks ago when a United flight from Munich to New Jersey had to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow due to similar unexplained illnesses. Over the last three months, incidents of nausea and other similar radiation symptoms have been increasing in regularity according to a search of aviation watchdog blog AVHerald.com which tracks in-flight incidents.
In fact, flight crews have been reporting mysterious illnesses throughout 2017, prompting hundreds of flight attendants to file lawsuits against their employers which report flight crews have been stricken with nausea, headaches, cognitive issues, and full-body rashes - all symptoms of ionizing radiation. While new uniforms are accused of being the cause in some cases, symptoms Both American Airlines and the uniform manufacturer claim that thorough testing has been conducted on the uniforms and no toxins or anomalies were found. Could all of these instead be explained by increased cosmic radiation in light of the solar minimum? Or could they be due to any of the other clouds of unexplained radiation floating around the globe? Of course, nausea and headaches are sometimes common on flights for various reasons related to riding in a giant pressurized tube attached to massive engines. Still, the recent spate of illnesses on airliners does look suspicious in light of this year's solar weather forecast.