From my window I see clear blue skies and airplanes flying in an out of the nearby airport and on occasion I can sometimes see thin white clouds trailing behind high-flying jets. One of the weirdest conspiracies is that the government is spraying population control chemicals through the exhaust of planes, leaving those white clouds.. It appears that RFK Jr. believes this nonsense, just like a lot of the other conspiratorial nonsense he believes, and he is trying to use his new-found alliance with creepy Donald Trump to get him to endorse it.
He has also suggested that Trump would join him in seeking to criminalize the spraying of “chemtrails,” promoting a debunked conspiracy theory about the government releasing toxic chemicals into the air to kill off undesirable elements of the population.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, is declining to condemn Kennedy’s latest conspiratorial remarks, instead telling Salon that its “proud” to have him on the former president’s “transition team.”
The stupidity of this theory is so self-evident that the mind boggles that anyone could credit it at all. If the government wanted to ‘control’ the population (control how? to what end?), why would it spray chemicals miles high up in the atmosphere where they would dissipate widely before (and if) they reach the ground? How would that target undesirable elements only? Why would they choose a method that leaves a visible trail that would raise questions? And why choose a method that requires them to get the cooperation of aircraft manufacturers, commercial airline companies, and ground crews all over the world to add the chemicals to the jet fuel?
Those cloud trails are actually a well understood phenomenon called ‘contrails‘ that occur when conditions are right for their formation.
The white streaks you see coming off high-flying jet airplanes are called contrails, which is short for condensation trail. Contrails are clouds that form when water vapor condenses and freezes around small particles (aerosols) in aircraft exhaust. The water vapor comes from the air around the plane and the exhaust of the aircraft. These contrails can become human-made cirrus clouds. Contrails last longer when there is a greater amount of water in the air; when all of the water in the clouds evaporates the contrail disappears. There are three types of contrails: short-lived, persistent non-spreading, and persistent spreading.
The amount of moisture present in the atmosphere determines what type of contrail can form. A short-lived contrail (left) forms immediately behind an airplane as a bright white line that lasts for only a short while if the air is somewhat moist (as compared to air that is very moist). A persistent non-spreading contrail (center) forms when the air is very moist and will stay in the sky long after the airplane has flown out of sight. It can last for a few minutes or longer than a day, and it keeps its shape of a thin line. A persistent spreading contrail (right) also forms in very moist air but spreads out across the sky. It grows wider and fuzzier as time passes. Sometimes contrails will actually take on the characteristics of a natural cirrus cloud and no longer look like contrails, thus becoming human-made clouds.
One would have thought that that this crackpot theory would have collapsed a long time ago under the weight of its internal contradictions. But when you have high-profile weirdos like RFK Jr. endorsing weird ideas, then they can have a long shelf-life.
If a democratic candidate were to spout this kind of nonsense, their campaign would be over. If you’re a republican, you could say things this crazy on a daily basis. In fact, they DO say things this crazy on a daily basis.
Why indeed, when they could just put lead in the gasoline? /dark humor
If you think that’s crazy, just wait till they start investigating whether birds are real…
Chemtrails prove the world is flat.
(/s, jic)
Republicans claimed Obama wanted to set up death panels to kill grandma, presumably to make Soylent Green.
Republicans claimed a military manouver in Texas at the end of the Obama presidency was a preparation for a coup d’etat.
Republicans claimed Biden only won because millions of illegal immigrants had voted for him (if true, the logistics of pulling it off would be much harder than the logistics of D-day).
They watched the 1980’s film “They Live” and embraced it, they made it the basis of their political propaganda.
Right, chemtrails are nothing to worry about. Contrails on the other hand are useful to remind us of the hundred billion gallons of jet fuel that worldwide aviation burns every year towards climate change, but best not to discuss that. The Venusians’ plan to terraform Earth is going swimmingly.
Maybe Bigfoot is behind the chemtrails? Since the fluoridation of water didn’t get rid of all the obnoxious naked apes, they came up with another scheme to rule the world.
Obviously they hide in their pyramids in Atlantis while plotting to destroy human civilizations, which is why nobody has ever managed to catch a Bigfoot.
I heard that they came up with the chemtrails plan after consulting with the Aliens at Area 51.
@ birger
“I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum.”
--Rowdy Roddy Piper
When anti-vaxx loons claimed mercury in vaccines caused autism, it was removed from all routine childhood vaccines 20 years ago. There was no effect on autism, and all research supporting the claim was subsequently proven to be completely fraudulent. The conspiracy loons will never let go of their conspiracies and will never accept evidence the contrary, no matter how definitive it is.
We know that thunder is not created by a god with a big hammer. But if people can believe that contrails, which are not more mysterious than thunder, are in fact a government plot, why not bring back Thor and his cohorts?
Thor is a lefty commie, and he is causing those storms and floods because he hates America.
There are photos from WWII that show contrails after the formations of B-17s flying at high altitude. Were they part of the chemtrail conspiracy?
The right wingers who talk about chemtrails believe that race is a big issue, so to them, liberals are non-whites, and so the chemtrail chemicals must be able to control white people and not bother non-whites. This assumes that race has a binary and detectable basis, which is doubly false. They assume that it is designed to spare non-Anglos such as you, Mano, while killing all the good caucasians around you, such as the people who make your grocery stores run. By their fake theory, this is why all white people died years ago, including famous white conservatives such as Joe Biden and Taylor Swift. This is why they don’t exist anymore and you have never heard of them.
The chemtrails idea is incoherent, but Trump and RFK Jr don’t notice that. Crazy.
In a world where support for flat Earth is growing rather than shrinking?? You so silly.
Well, you see, the chemicals they use only affect people with a particular gene which makes them extra-gullible. And of course that preferentially kills Republicans!
I don’t quite understand the controversy over chemtrails. Of course I don’t believe in them at all anyway, but if I did, and if I actually believed that some nefarious secret cabal was trying to kill off my favored people with chemtrails, I would actively encourage the effort, since it’s long been obvious it’s utterly ineffective. By all means, keep spending your money and energy on chemtrails so you don’t think to try something that works!
@birgerjohansson
the B-17s were the first prototype of the chemtrail project, obviously. 😉