Looks like this is a myth we’ve been battling for awhile. Originally from 2014:
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“The government is using fake snow as part of a plot to seize control of society!”
Bro, if you’ve already got machines that command the freaking weather you don’t need to “seize” control, you’ve already grabbed the brass ring of global domination.
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Sure these people either lack critical thinking skills or just like to troll…probably a combination of both.
I did take a picture of this last winter. It had been sitting on my deck railing for probably a month, so it really only froze on cold nights and was filled with rain water. But I noticed it had frozen into this, and I have no explanation for it. There is nothing above this area, no way for water to drip into the bowl. I thought it was weird. I’m not on the internet saying it’s some kind of government conspiracy, just something I can’t explain.
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The words of the day are heat capacity, heat of fusion, and (if your energy source is solar or other black body radiation) albedo.
It takes a decent amount of energy to melt snow (lots of favorable intramolecular interactions to break up) but it is really easy to leave soot on stuff. All you need to leave soot on something is to incompletely burn something with carbon in it. This can be accomplished by limited air flow or having a big heat sink - both of which are accomplished by sticking a lighter up to a chunk of snow.
Edit: also, if the flame is yellow, then it is incomplete combustion and soot is being formed.
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Another very cool phenomenon which is fun to learn about and interesting to add to your ongoing body of knowledge!
https://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/icespikes/icespikes.htm
Also, the “non melting” snow reminds me of this other science experiment which I read about as a kid in a cool book. Boiling water in a paper cup - YouTube
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There’s no shortage of stupid in these here United States.
Makes sense. Science, it’s amazing!
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Or even the fact that it melted ONTO THEIR HANDS when they picked it up to form the snowball. 
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Aha, you’re onto something. Maybe when they picked it up it didn’t melt onto their hands. Perhaps these videos were all uploaded by reptilians trying to distract us from the impending harvest.
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Whatever you do, do NOT let these people know about burning a fire in an igloo.
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You can tell that nearly all these people are fuckwits simply because their videos are in portrait mode. The rest? Well, you need to watch 5 seconds of their videos before it becomes completely obvious.
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Tasty science!
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Seriously, this is the bit that social media is missing. Posters of these dumb videos need to get direct and visceral feedback as to how many people are laughing at their ignorance and stupidity.
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“Don’t just spray 'em – Barium!”
I think history will agree this was one of the most significant unintended consequences of that great democratizer, the Internet. Conspiracists, Nazi hobbyists, paranoids, paedophiles, gun nuts, fundamentalist whackos…all these and more used to live in isolation. Any damage they might have caused was limited by geography and the difficulty of communication. Now everyone, no matter how bizarre their crotchet, can find a world full of fellow believers to support them in their delusion. It’s an interesting world when the most obscure minority delusion enjoys equal–or even greater–importance as reality.
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I’m seeing Moses in a robe, which clearly means it is a divine manifestation. 
That is pretty cool though – I don’t think I’ve heard of ice spikes before (thanks, other poster).
I’ve definitely heard of an ice luge…
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What? Calvin & Hobbes lied to us? 
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De-Evolution is upon us, folks.
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/q_are_we_not_men_the_origins_of_devos_theory_of_de-evolution
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