Aircraft Chemtrails - A certain theory about contrails holds that these long linear clouds presumably produced as a by-product of high-altitude flight of aircraft are often in actuality chemical weapons being used against the populace. It might sound crazy, but a recent survey revealed that around 10 percent of respondents believed whole-heartedly that chemtrails were a real phenomenon, and 20 percent believed the theory at least in part.
Are these folks deluded, or is there something to the contrail theory? To address this concern, a group of 77 scientists published a report in the journal of Environmental Research Letters after digging through the supposed evidence of the intent to poison us through chemtrails.
Aircraft Chemtrails
These scientists are experts in atmospheric science, including the contributions of aircraft to the atmosphere as well as atmospheric processes like how quickly or uniformly chemicals fall through the air to the ground. Of those 77 scientists, 76 said they found no evidence of a "secret large-scale atmospheric program"—that's 98.7%.
What Are Chemtrails?
Instead, they found that "the data cited as evidence [for such a program] could be explained through other factors, including well-understood physics and chemistry associated with aircraft." In other words, the evidence pointed to the trails being simply the normally expected result of planes flying through the air.
The backstory: Anthropogenic, or homogenitus, clouds, are those made by human activity instead of by natural forces. The history of anthropogenic clouds is a long one, dating back at least to the beginning of the industrial revolution, when clouds formed above industrial plants, still a common occurrence today.
But by far the most common anthropogenic clouds are contrails, which result from the exhaust from aircraft engines, normally jet engines. Such clouds are formed when the water vapor in the engines' exhaust combines with condensation nuclei in the exhaust and the very cold air to condense, forming trails of visible moisture (clouds) forming small ice crystals.
Contrails are not the only form of aviation-related anthropogenic clouds. At high angles of attack, the air coming off of flap or wingtip surfaces can also form small, short-lived clouds. And as far as Point Three is concerned, every image and video that purported to show chemtrail activity has been debunked.
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One showed ballast barrels in the cabin of a jet going through certification flight testing, where water barrels are used for ballast to simulate passenger loads; Another video merely showed venturis generated trails from a departing airliner, and the footage of a plane spraying chemtrails was actually an aircraft dumping fuel in order to make an emergency landing.
But contrails are the subject of interest because of a popular, widespread theory that many of them actually consist of chemicals sprayed by unknown actors (governmental bodies are the most usual suspect) in order to influence human behavior in some form.
The most popular theories are that these purported chemtrails are used as biological weapons, for weather modification warfare, as weapons of psychological warfare, or as a means to limit human reproduction. If you've never heard of chemtrails, don't fret.
Before spending time in Southern California I had not heard of them either. But whether it's being in the land of obsession-with-healthy-living, or perhaps just being near a few major airports, I now hear about chemtrails quite frequently in SoCal.
Finally, chemtrail proponents don't even know what is supposedly being sprayed, what the purpose of that spraying is, or even who is doing it. In short, the theory of chemtrails is nothing short of a paranoid observation looking desperately for a reason to exist.
Conclusion: The spraying of chemical or biological weapons at very high altitudes as a means of managing population, enforcing mind control or otherwise injuring or influencing the population is unfounded. There is no credible evidence the practice exists;
the vast conspiracy it would require would be unmanageable, and the supposed method of dispersing the chemicals would be impractical and ineffective. Point Two is just scientifically inaccurate. Depending on the weather conditions and the composition of the aircraft exhaust, contrails can be short-lived or relatively stable, lasting even hours.
Furthermore, proponents have never shown any evidence that the composition of contrails said to be chemtrails was chemical or biological in nature. Chemtrail social media groups also often contain anti-vaccine posts and promote climate change denialism, feeding off an increase in conspiracy thinking during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy theory during the Trump presidency.
Chemtrail influencers are highly active on platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, where they discuss the day's alleged "spraying" and track aircraft. Some suggest putting a bowl of white vinegar outside, saying that this clears "chemtrailed" skies.
Point Two: While proponents of chemtrails admit that condensation trails do exist, they point to a difference, that chemtrails, because of their chemical composition, last longer than conventional contrails, which, they say, dissipate more quickly. These longer-lasting anthropogenic clouds are proof, they claim, that chemtrails are real.
Furthermore, the supposed logic of chemtrails makes no sense. Depositing chemicals at very high altitudes is perhaps the least accurate, most wasteful and least powerful way to disperse chemical or biological weapons. In Los Angeles in the 1980s, when a dangerous agricultural pest, the Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly, threatened the vast agricultural empire of California, the government did indeed spray pesticides (malathion) in urban areas, and it did it at low altitude from
helicopters and fixed-wing planes. In the 1950s and 1960s, decades before the conspiracy theories were born, much of Britain was sprayed with airborne chemicals in a series of secret germ warfare tests. And in 1950, San Francisco was sprayed with a chemical agent from a ship to gauge the effects of a bioweapon attack on a populated area.
Contrails are formed when water vapor and fine soot particles from burning jet fuel freeze into ice crystals. In low air humidity, the crystals just dissipate. In higher humidity, they persist, and end up creating visible vapor trails over large areas of sky.
Chemtrails, short for chemical trails, are what some call the white trails you see left behind as a plane passes overhead. Believers in the chemical aspect of chemtrails say those trails are actually clouds of chemicals used by the government or some other large scale entity for a variety of nefarious purposes from weather modification, to human population control via sterilization, to even mind control.
The theories usually claim that normal jet plane output should dissipate quickly so any clouds that do not disappear immediately must be full of additional, undisclosed substances. Chemtrail theories are not only a U.S.-based phenomenon—almost 17% of respondents in an international survey noted a belief in the existence of a "secret large-scale atmospheric program" to be at least partially true.
Chemtrails conspiracy theorists point to such secret experiments to bolster their cause. But their claims blow the historical record out of all proportion, as they claim we are constantly - and very visibly - being deliberately sprayed with tons of dangerous chemicals, for an ever-shifting variety of reasons.
As for that one scientist? One scientist noted that in one remote location, the levels of barium in the atmosphere were unusually high relative to the levels of barium in the soil. No claims were made that the reason for those elevated levels had to be a large scale chemical operation, but since that scientist was not convinced of a clear reason for the barium to be higher in the atmosphere there, they left the possibility open.
High humidity means that vapor trails can last for long periods and become thin layers of cirrus clouds, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern told the BBC. Cirrus clouds are short, detached and hair-like and are found at high altitudes.
It is unlikely that any of these purported chemicals in the clouds would even reach ground level because they are at such high altitudes, he said. One persistent belief among followers of the theory is that early morning chemtrails encourage greater cloud cover later in the day - but this can be explained by the natural process of convection.
This is the result of the sun warming the ground, causing warm air to rise and condense into clouds later in the day, the Met Office says. Point Three: Chemtrail proponents have presented both photographic and video evidence as support for their theory.
These included large numbers of barrels with plumbing installed in what is normally the passenger seating area of large airplanes. And additionally, they have used footage of airplanes spraying some substance over an urban area as proof of chemtrail use.
The phenomenon is international, with followers across the UK, Europe, Australia and the Americas - in fact, anywhere under which commercial or military aircraft fly. And it is backed by a few celebrities and popular social media influencers.
Counterpoint: With Point One, while it is true that warring factions have used chemical weapons against rival nations or factions, it is a great leap to go from that kind of war crime to a systematic use of chemical weapons for mind control or other hostile purposes.
. The scope of such a program and its physical infrastructure would necessarily be so great as to make it impossible to keep such a program under wraps, especially since such an endeavor would be targeting the family, friends and fellow citizens of the very people carrying out the
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