Chemtrail

Picture of a contrail in a book from 1967

Contrails during WWII

Contrails during WWII

Picture from WWII

Chemtrail is, according to a common conspiracy theory, the name for certain types of contrails. According to this pseudo-scientific idea at least a part of the known contrails consist of various added substances, whose composition however can not be agreed upon by followers of this idea. The modified contrails supposedly show a different behavior from regular ones. They are claimed to remain longer visible in the sky, and to sometimes appear in a checkerboard pattern. There is no consensus among followers of the chemtrail idea on which airplanes spread the additives. Some believe chemtrails are caused by all different kinds of planes, while others believe only certain military aircraft to be responsible. An extended version of the theory claims that chemtrails can dissolve carbon-dioxide, resulting in local decrease in temperature due to the diminished greenhouse effect. This creates a huge depression that sucks in surrounding air, causes thunderstorms, intense rain, storms and hail.

The History of the word Chemtrails

G. Stetter

Clifford Carnicom

William Thomas

Jim Phelps

The term chemtrail was coined around 1998 in the US. In the early days the word "cloverleaf" was more common, until the year 2000. Barium and aluminum were introduced into the debate around 2001. Clifford Carnicom from Santa Fe in New Mexico and the Canadian William Thomas from Duncan (British Columbia) are often labeled the creators of the chemtrail hypothesis. They are the only ones who left behind well dated material. Carnicom's records begin in the summer of 1999 with the double title Contrail/Chemtrail. Carnicom latterly presents himself on a website called CACTUS (Citizens Against Chemtrails U.S.) According to him barium is radioactive, which adds another pseudo-scientific note to his conspiracy theories. The journalist William Thomas first wrote about the topic in January of 1999 (article in Environment News Service - ENS), but was still using the word contrails.

Further historical documents exist parallel to that, for example the well known radio talk show with Art Bell from 1999. While the first report talks only about (poisonous) contrails, the second one marks the birth of the word chemtrails' only one month later, albeit still set in quotation marks. The book "Chemtrails over America" by William Thomas was released shortly after that.

Another (self-proclaimed) inventor of the word is Jim Phelps. Here a quote to get a little insight into the mind of Mr. Phelps:These truths revealed on the use of Chemtrails will show that the US Govt. has long known the truth on what causes the AIDS epidemic. Chemtrails use a truncated version of the Manna effect. And AIDS is the direct result of too much fluoride in the environment that is upsetting the beneficial trace metals in the human cells and immune system. This leads to a lower level of metals, like manganese, that block the reverse transcription of HIV. This is a very important concept from the End-Times predictions of huge health plagues sweeping the planet and all very predictable from the old biblical times for those that knew the mining industries.

The abstruse conspiracy theory

Rear of a test plane for simulating icing

The same plane in action

Supporters of the 1990s chemtrail hypothesis believe, that certain substances that are not described clearly, are being mixed with the jet fuel, to create an effect on the global climate, especially the greenhouse effect. Other conspiracy theorists believe, that it is part of a world wide program to reduce the global population, or for birth or mind control. Behind these programs are, according the chemtrail groups, the Freemasons, the Illuminati or a Jewish conspiracy. There are often ties to right wing groups, "brown esotericism" and supporters of cloudbuster, colloidal silver and zappers according to Hulda Clark. Typical supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis are Georg Ritschl, Werner Altnickel, Peter Platte, Helmut Gobsch, Heinz Gerhard Vogelsang, Don Croft and Rosalie Bertell. In Germany the far right NPD party started an inquiry into chemtrails in the state parliament of Saxony. The topic of chemtrails is often used as a catch in the right wing scene.

Fallacious and unsupported assumptions are often promoted in the esoteric Swiss publication "Zeitenschrift", in the Scientology affine "Neue Impulse Treff" network, and by the esoteric-libertarian "live Net Concept 2010" association. A popular photo "proof" of alleged chemtrail operations can be seen in the picture on the right: A modified Boeing NKC-135A Stratotanker (717-100) with the number 17244, stationed at the Edwards AFB in California. It sprays water to test the flight quality of planes under icing conditions. Tests are done on various kinds of planes, such as fighter jets or a Embraer EMB-120RT. That plane has been decommissioned, now.

Popular among chemtrail supporters is the claim that so called low budget airlines, like the Irish Ryanair, are able to offer their flights at such a low price, because their secret main job is the creation of chemtrails.

Contrails and cloud formation

Photo of clouds before 1905

Meteorological conditions for the creation of contrails

Contrails (also called Ice-SuperSaturated Regions(ISSR)) are visible clouds of liquid (condensed) or frozen water droplets, that form when the hot exhaust stream of airplanes meets cold air under the right circumstances. That decompression leads to cooling and condensation can be seen when a bottle of sparkling wine is opened. "Fog" appears above the liquid. The same process plays a big role in the creation of clouds and rain in the atmosphere.

Some forms of clouds that are caused by planes appear without the interference of any exhaust gases, for example winglet-contrails, which can be observed by passengers forming at the wing tips of planes under the right conditions, even at low altitudes. Typical turbofan exhaust temperatures are at around 600 K.

The formation of contrails can be explained physically: Generally water gets visible in the air, when the relative humidity (the number of water droplets in relation to the temperature of the air) exceeds 100%. The warmer the air is, the more water vapor can it hold. Modern planes travel at high altitudes, where it is very cold. The cold air can only hold small amounts of water. Water is created chemically when jet fuel is burnt, which exits the engines as an invisible gas. The surrounding cold air rapidly cools down the hot exhaust gas, and after a few meters (depending on temperature and humidity), lets the water crystallize, forming the contrail. The contrail remains visible until the water crystals are dispersed to the point where humidity drops below 100%. In a high pressure area with low humidity this happens rather fast, and no contrail at all forms when temperatures are high enough in the summer, like it is often the case in southern Europe for example. In the Arctic and Antarctic however contrails can sometimes form even at ground level.

At certain weather conditions the contrails can expand, remain visible for hours, or gather more clouds to the point where it starts to rain. Supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis then say that the plane made the bad weather. In reality it is exactly the other way around. The persistent contrails indicate the upcoming bad weather, because low pressure areas typically have high humidity, and the added water (water vapor from the exhaust gas) is more than the air can absorb, and thus remains visible as fog or clouds. Sometimes the chemtrail supporters ask why the "spraying" has stopped. A quick look at the weather map helps: Usually there's a stable high pressure area with low humidity. Then, as soon as a low pressure area approaches, the chemtrail reports come in again. Generally contrails appear at temperature below -35°C, depending on altitude and humidity.

• Short contrails form at an altitude of about 10km, if the temperature of the tropopause (10-15km) lies around -50°C with an humidity of below 70%. Ice crystals form, but sublimate after a few seconds and become invisible.
• Persistent contrails that may expand and even lead to the formation of artificial cirrus clouds form, when the tropopause reaches a humidity from 80-100%.
• No contrails at all even at high altitudes form, when the temperature close to the ground during the summer increases to 25°C or higher, and the temperature of the lower tropopause (10-12km) reaches -40°C and higher, with a humidity below 30%. This happens in chemtrail free southern Europe during the summer. Below 25% humidity at 10km no ice crystals form.

During the day contrails cover about 0.7% of the sky over Europe over the course of the year, at night (when contrails have an insulating effect) they cover about 0.25%. On average they cover about 0.5% of the sky.

When a plane flies through the not always straight and level (but wavy) border between warmer and colder air, it may appear as if the contrail is suddenly turned off or on, even repeatedly when there are turbulences. Air warms quicker over large dark (tarmac) surfaces than over wet meadows, and begins to rise, forming bubbles or "chimneys" of warm air. Different thermal phenomenons can exist next to each other. The results are the typical hops and bumps pilots of small airplanes experience. When contrails persist long enough their form gets changed by winds and turbulences - just like regular clouds. Different colors are the result of refraction and reflection of sunlight. These aspects are displayed on websites of chemtrail believers as unnatural, and evidence of chemicals. But they can actually be explained naturally, and are consistent with our understanding of meteorology and physics, requiring no additional hypotheses or conspiracy theories.

Cloud-pictures of the kind that, according to supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis, are evidence of sprayed chemicals, are photographically documented from times even well before the first powered flight of the Wright brothers, for example in the 1905 book Clouds studies. The first actual contrails have been recorded shortly after World War I, when ever more powerful planes reached ever higher altitudes. The first report of a contrail is based on a flight of pilot Franz Zeno Diemer, who reached an altitude of 9,300 m over Munich in 1919.

Distrails

Inverted contrails - distrails is the name for the more rare breakup of clouds caused by airplanes. Water droplets vaporize faster in the hot exhaust gas, creating a cloud free trail. This can also be caused by mixing in dry air from above or under the the cloud layer.

Alleged chemical composition of the chemtrail additives according to different sources

The following substances are to be found in chemtrails, according to followers of the idea:

• Barium or barium compounds
• Aluminum compounds
• Titanium
• Teutonium
• radioactive thorium
• synthetic fibers of unknown composition
• Ethylene dibromide (EDB)
• Mycoplasma, Pseudomonas and allegedly existing nanobacterias
• Vaccines against anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis and measles in aerosol form
• Pathogens, genetically modified microbes of unknown kind

Aluminum and barium are insoluble in kerosene, but there are compounds of either element that are. However even small traces of them would easily be detectable with modern analytic methods (e.g. ICP or AAS). Furthermore neither the application of aluminum nor that of barium make sense from a chemical or physiological point of view (especially regarding the desired harm). Aluminum is covered with an oxide layer, rendering it mostly inert. Barium on the other hand is so reactive, that is cannot be used here. It would immediately and violently react with humidity and oxygen (creating barium hydroxide). Barium sulfate is physiologically harmless, it is insoluble in water. It has no bioavailability, hence the reason it is orally administered as radio-opaque substance for x-rays. Teutonium is not one of the known elements. In how far pathogen germs, bacterias, spores, vaccines etc. remain stable under the existing conditions remains questionable.

So far none of the aforementioned substances could be clearly identified in contrails or jet exhaust gas.

Speculations of anti-vaccination activist Anita Petek-Dimmer turned into a source of amusement in 2005, when she proclaimed that the bird flue (caused by the H5N1 virus) was the result of ionizing radiation from chemtrails. Petek-Dimmer believed that plutonium had been added to chemtrails. Furthermore she assumed: This radioactive radiation does not also dissolve animal cells, but also those of plants.

Known releases of substances in aviation

actual chemtrail

Cloud seeding equipment

Cloud seeders disperse silver iodide (with acetone) specifically into thunderstorms to prevent hail. Smoke is often used in air shows, or to study wake turbulence. Water can be used for the same purposes. As part of military operations clouds can be manipulated to create rain. Such interventions are regulated in the ENMOD provision of the United Nations. In the Vietnam war agent orange has been used to defoliate forests. In case of emergency planes are allowed to dump fuel. Contrary to contrails smoke trails form directly at the outlet. Contrails form a little bit behind the engines.

Chemtrail and weather radar

Chaff cloud over the Netherlands

Radar chaff

Supporters of the chemtrail conspiracy theory occasionally claim that there are sometimes strange signals on the weather radars of meteorological services, that appear to be ghost clouds. For example on July 19th 2005 the radar screens of the German Weather Service (DWD) showed a small compact cloud formation on the north sea coast of the Netherlands, that looked like rain. Within two hours the radar showed a 300 km long cloud strip, reaching from the East Frisian Islands down to the northern Ruhr Area. But at the same time no clouds were visible, neither from the ground nor on satellite images, nor anything that might look like a mass of contrails. In this case as well as in similar ones chaffs (Rapid Bloom Chaff(RBC)) had been dispersed as part of a military exercise. Chaffs are small metal threads that reflect radar waves and disturb radar. Supporters of the chemtrail idea cannot be talking about chaff. Even they don't claim a correlation between supposed chemtrail sightings and strange radar echoes.

Logical counter arguments

A world wide UN coordinated secret program for creating artificial contrails, like chemtrail believers proclaim, would have to be kept secret by a large number of adept people, who at the same time would be breaking the law. Belonging to this group would be aircraft crews, manufacturer of the used technology and means, ground crew and airport employees. Chemtrail Supporters like Platte claim, that there are even pilots who have been fired for refusing to take part in this hypothetical chemtrail project. But so far not a single one of them has come forth as a whistle blower.

To achieve a concentration of 1 mg per square meter of a specific substance one needs to disperse 1 kg of that substance per square km. Europe has an area of 10.5 million square km, requiring 10,500 tons of that substance for a single spraying event. A typical large aircraft such as the Boeing KC-135 has a maximum load of 85 tons of fuel. So 123 aircraft of this type are needed to get the job done, when each plane only flew once. The surface of the whole earth is about 510 million square km. 510,000 tons of material were needed for a single spraying, equaling 6,000 tankers. This assumes that the fuel itself is the pure substance. If the substance had to be thinned however (for example 1:9) then 5,100,000 tons of the spraying solution are required, equaling 60,000 Phantom tankers. That is 3.2 times the official number of jets world wide.

Another argument against the chemtrail hypothesis is the fact that since the 1970 until today (2009) the number of foggy days in Europe has been receding. That is based on an examination of data from 342 weather stations across Europe. This was published in "Nature Geoscience" by scientists around Robert Vautard. The decrease in fog is based on advanced filtering technology in power plants, that cut back sulfur dioxide emissions. Cleaner air is clearer air. And because of that more sunlight reaches the ground.