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Mysteries of Flight: Chemtrails - Plane + Pilot

Plane & Pilot explores the theory that chemtrails are a form of chemical warfare. Read this article to learn more about it, and to see what we found.

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Mysteries of Flight: Chemtrails - Plane + Pilot
Home/Article/Pilot Stories/More Pilot Talk/Mysteries of Flight: Chemtrails Mysteries of Flight: Chemtrails Are aircraft condensation trails really a form of chemical warfare being carried out on unsuspecting innocents below? Plane & Pilot Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 09:15 AM ET Verified A Boeing 747 leaving a contrail. Key Takeaways: The "chemtrail" theory posits that aircraft contrails are actually chemical weapons sprayed by governments for purposes such as mind control or population management. Proponents support this theory by citing the historical use of chemical warfare, claims that "chemtrails" last longer than natural contrails, and photographic/video evidence often showing internal aircraft equipment or aerial dispersal. However, these claims are thoroughly debunked: the scale of such a secret program would be impossible to maintain, contrail longevity varies naturally with atmospheric conditions, and the alleged evidence has been identified as misinterpretations (e.g., flight test ballast, emergency fuel dumping). The article concludes that the chemtrail theory is unfounded, lacking credible evidence, being impractical for chemical dispersal, and requiring an unmanageably vast and illogical conspiracy. See a mistake? Contact us. A Boeing 747 leaving a contrail. 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? Subscribe todayto Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more delivered straight to you! 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. 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. The Argument: Proponents of the chemtrail theory are often dismissed as conspiracy theorists, but could there be some truth to their theories? Point One: Chemical warfare is sadly not a new phenomenon. It has been used in various forms for thousands of years: Poison-tipped arrows are a form of chemical weapon. The use of such weapons arguably reached their peak during WWI, when countries on both sides of the trenches used chemical weapons, including chlorine gas and mustard gas, resulting in more than a million causalities, many of them civilians, and in Germany during WWII, the Nazis used poison gas to kill millions of Jews. In more recent times, the Syrian Army has been accused of using chemical warfare against rebel-held civilian population centers. And these are only a small handful of the many instances in which people have used chemical weapons against others. With that as a baseline, is it really unbelievable that the government could use chemical weapons against its own populace in order to influence behavior, manage population, or cause drought or flooding to occur? 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. 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 p...