by Georgia Kinch
Have you ever looked up to the sky and noticed a trail that seemed to follow the path of an airplane passing by? Perhaps you thought nothing of it, chalking it up to the exhaust fuel from the plane’s engines. Or perhaps you were among the thousands of Americans who believe it to be a chemtrail: Toxic clouds created by the government to disperse unknown chemicals on humankind. The theory first began in 1996 when military researchers published a paper describing chemtrails as a speculated future form of warfare. Journalists, however, ran with the idea and spread the news that chemtrails were already being used by the Air Force (Newitz & Steiner, 2014). Since then, the theory has continued to captivate the minds of Americans who believe that the government is using chemicals to sterilize/control the population, administer drugs for mind control, suppress human evolution, and more. The kicker: There is no scientific evidence that these trails in the sky actually contain any significant chemicals.
So, what do chemtrail believers base their theory on? The first argument is that these trails did not begin to appear so predominantly in the sky until the government project began. There is also a phenomenon that has to do with shadows and angles that can cause certain trails to appear very dark, and they have thus been called “black ray” chemtrails and are assumed to contain poisonous chemicals. There have even been several videos of admittance of the use of chemtrails, including from a Germany news agency and two aircraft pilots (these videos later turned out to have been either tampered with or faked) (“Chemtrails”).
More evidence exists for the contrary side. These trails of clouds, officially called “contrails”, did indeed exist well before this theory came about. As environmental journalist Chris Clarke puts it, “that theory is easily countered by being 35, having looked at the sky before 1995, and remembering persistent contrails” (Clarke, 2017). These contrails do appear more frequently now, but that is simply due to increased air traffic. As for the theory that these chemtrails are being used to sicken their targets and control the population? Life expectancy has actually risen in recent years and is higher than ever! Additionally, there will likely never be scientific evidence to confirm the existence of chemtrails, as the theory is unfalsifiable. It is impossible to fly up to a contrail and collect a sample of the cloud for testing. That will simply never happen.
While there is little evidence to support the theory of chemtrails, it is not hard to understand why someone would believe that the government may be corrupt and employing such harmful tactics. Considering the Holocaust, the Ukrainian genocide, and the countless other episodes of mass homicide, is it really that far out of the realm of possibility for a government to indiscreetly spray poisonous chemicals from the sky? Believers of chemtrails may be vulnerable to the belief because of such a fearful state surrounding many political systems today.
Chemtrail believers likely came to their conclusion by way of fear: Fear of the government; Fear of a New World Order threatening to take control; Fear of history repeating itself. While their evidence is situational and unfalsifiable, perhaps maintaining their belief alleviates their fear of what could happen if they did not.
References
1 – Newitz, A., & Steiner, A. (2014, September 24). Here’s Where the Chemtrail Conspiracy
Theory Actually Came From. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://io9.gizmodo.com/is-that-reflective-cloud-about-to-poison-you-and-change-1638680856
2 – Chemtrails. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2018, from https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Chemtrails
3 – Clarke, C. (2017, May 25). Why Do People Believe in Chemtrails? Retrieved February 28,
2018, from https://www.kcet.org/shows/earth-focus/why-do-people-believe-in-chemtrails
I think its interesting how the chemtrail believers said that they first starting seeing the chemtrails after the government project began. I think its important to note that this theory is based on confirmation bias. Also, the fact that this theory is false because their is evidence that the increase of air pollutants is just because of increased air traffic.
I really enjoyed reading your post because this is an extraordinary belief I did not know about prior to reading this! I liked reading about the history of this belief and I was not shocked that there has not been solid evidence found for this belief. I also like how you pointed out that this belief is not surprising considering government histories around the world. For example, if something like the Holocaust can happen under government watch, it is likely that chemtrails could exist.
I had no idea some people believe in this Extrodinary belief! It was interesting to see it’s ties to the government and how people who fear the government and political relations can be true believers. It was also interesting to see chemtrails go from a future form of warfair to an extraordinary belief.
this is such a fascinating theory to me because it deals with something that we are so used to seeing in our everyday lives! I think it was interesting how you mentioned that people claimed to only see the contrails after the government talked about using chemtrails in warfare, but it’s probably the case where they didn’t start looking for them until they heard the government talk about them. Overall, it’s a interesting theory to discuss, but I don’t really see it having any sort of truth to it.
This conspiracy is so interesting! It’s really funny to learn about new theories as to how people think the government is trying to harm or control us. What’s even more astounding is how people actually whole-heartedly believe things like the chemtrail conspiracy. It seems totally false and easily debunked, but true believers always have their own ways in continuing to believe what they want despite conflicting evidence.
I’ve heard a lot about this conspiracy and I know some people that actually believe in it. I never really noticed the streaks in the sky until I heard about this theory it’s crazy how often and how many “trails” there are that we just don’t really notice. I remember when I was little I went to an air show where these small airplanes would do tricks in the sky and they would leave trails just like the chemtrails so I agree that they are probably just the exhaust fuel. I didn’t know that there was no evidence that these trails contain anything harmful, it’s interesting that so many people believe something that has no evidence backing it up.
Chemtrails have always been a topic of interest with me. I can not say whether I believe it or not, my opinion on whether or not they are harmful or not, I am more or so just interested in the fact that it is possible, but we can never truly know! It is very interesting to read about why some trails can appear to be a different color than others, and how they really always have been left in the sky from planes, as the witness stated. It is unfortunate that our society is so fueled by fear, to the point that people see most things as a threat, even with zero evidence to prove that we have any affect at all from the trails.
Hey Abigail,
I think that chemtrails are probably harmful, but just because of the toxins that are being released. I dont believe the government is out to get us! Do you think that if it were the case that releasing chemtrails that high in the air would even be effective?
Charlie
Hey Georgia,
This post was really cool. I think we all have looked up at the sky and seen this and wondered what it was, especially growing up. I know I did. I had never heard of this theory, it reminds me of the one where people say that the government puts something in toothpaste that slowly harms us to help with population control. While population control is definitely a current issue, it is because people are having to many children. The government has nothing to do with it.
Charlie
While spreading chemicals high above us in the air to control the population seems like an inefficient way to do such a thing, I do find it very weird that some airplanes leave no trail, some leave trails that disappear instantly, and some trails are there for a long period of time. Now I really don’t know enough about the atmosphere, weather conditions, humidity or anything else to say whether the planes should be leaving trails or not, but I can see how not understanding these things can lead to fear. Anyone paranoid about the government could easily point to chemtrails as an example, the problem is we can’t prove that they are unharmful or not poisonous because this theory is totally unfalsifiable. Even if we tested the trails for poison they can claim other trails are indeed poison.
I had no idea that this belief even existed. I will never stop being amazed at the different things people will think to be true because they believe the government is conspiring against them. I feel bad for people who are so paranoid to believe something like this. It must make it hard to live their day-to-day life.
Georgia, I found your blog post to be very intriguing. To be honest, I have never even heard of this. I see the trails that follow airplanes passing by all of the time, and I never thought anything to it. I find it really interesting that by them maintaining their beliefs in this may alleviate their fear of what could happen if they did not. It does not seem like believing in this would alleviate any fear. It seems like it would just add more fear.
I never heard of this belief. I always thought it was just exhaust, like many others. There are a lot of great points in the comments, about the effectiveness and the proof for it, so I will not repeat it all, but rather agree. I think its easy to come up with our own way of explaining things when we don’t fully understand which is what has been done here.
Government-based conspiracies are always intriguing to me because they are so difficult to prove or disprove. I think this is a tricky belief because it is easy for people to blame any oddity on corrupt governments, but it is not easy for us to know for sure. I am curious if anyone has ever tested these trails to determine their composition to put this theory to rest?
What is known by some as Chemtrails is no longer a conspiracy, but a fact. The real term for the streaks being created by planes all over the sky is geoengineering or cloud seeding. Used for weather control and modification. It is no secret. You can search it and find much detail about those programs. China also used them before hosting the Olympics. There are publicly traded companies that sell this service among other agencies.