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Debunking the chemtrail conspiracy theory

High flying aircraft followed by a contrail

This article will cover information regarding the chemtrail conspiracy theory, and how to debunk it therefore it will contain information that could be viewed as biased. It is not to be confused with Cloud seeding, Crop dusting, or Contrail. A more in depth description of the chemtrail conspiracy theory redirects here. For the Beck song, see Chemtrails (song).

Description of the theory

The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the theory that chemical or biological agents are being sprayed onto the general public through the use of commercial, private, and military aircraft. When they pass through the sky, aircraft leave a trail of exhaust, similar to a car, or any other combustion engine vehicle. On some days aircraft will pass through the sky and leave no visible trail behind them, however if the humidity is high enough, the air temperature is low enough, or the temperature of the exhaust is low enough then contrails begin to form. A chemtrail is a combination of the two words chemical and trail, similar to how contrail is a combination of the words condensation, and trail. Contrails form when the previously mentions environmental conditions are met, then liquid water is able to condense on the particles of aircraft exhaust. Supporters of the theory claim that normal aircraft do not produce any trails at all, therefore any aircraft that does produce a trail must be physically altered for sinister purposes. Despite many attempts to prove that spraying does occur, supporters of the theory are yet to successfully prove anything.

Proponents of the chemtrail theory are not as well organized as members of some other conspiracy communities, such as the theory that the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center Buildings, and the Pentagon Building, or the theory that the United States faked landing on the moon in 1969. Members of such conspiracy groups are united in the rhetoric that they use, what they site as "credible evidence", and what they wish to prove. Proponents of the chemtrail theory usually have their own brand of what they think is going on. Governments, and members of the scientific community from all over the world have been accused of using chemtrails to execute; solar radiation management, psychological manipulation, weather manipulation, geoengineering, biological warfare, chemical warfare, and even controlling the human population.

History

Contrails over Long Island

The theory came about in the late 1990's, when theories which accused the United States Air Force (USAF) "spraying the U.S. population with mysterious substances" from aircraft "generating unusual contrail patterns." The theories were picked up by online forums, and were even discussed by radio talk shows. As the theory began to spread, federal officials from numerous agencies were contacted by people demanding explanations.

In 2000, a multi-agency response was published, this response explained the science behind contrails, and reassured the American people that they were not, in fact, being doused with chemical or biological agents. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), all participated in the response. However, the multi-agency aspect of the response led to many theory believers interpreting it as evidence of a government wide cover up.

In the early 2000's the USAF claimed that a paper drafted in within their Air University sparked the conspiracy theories. The paper was titled Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather by 2025, the paper covered, in depth, how the United States would go about implementing weather modification to ensure military dominance in the year 2025. The Air Force has still publicly stated that what is covered in the paper "does not reflect current military policy, practice, or capability," and that it is "not conducting any weather modification experiments or programs and has no plans to do so in the future."

Debunking the claims

Addressing the multi-agency response

The chain of command for the United States Department of Energy

As was previously stated, many supporters of the chemtrails theory took the multi-agency response to skeptics as proof of a government wide cover up. There were four agencies that participated in that report. Those agencies are what's known as bureaucracies in American government. A bureaucracy is part of the Executive branch, and they are the groups of people that go and enforce the laws that are passed by the Executive and Legislative branches of government. Bureaucracies operate using a hierarchy system, which essentially means that they use a chain of command. This is different from the other branches of the government, since most bureaucrats get their jobs based on merit, and expertise. Interestingly, the heads of each department are the only one's who do not get their jobs based on merit; the heads of departments are appointed by the President, and confirmed by the Senate. The President of the United States it the only person that can fire the head of a department, however, the President cannot fire anyone farther down in the chain. Even then, it's often times difficult to fire a bureaucrat, since they're supposed to be left to enforce policy. The bureaucrats that wrote the multi-agency response to chemtrails have no reason to keep anything covered up, because they can't be fired anyway. They keep their jobs, whether there's chemtrails or not, so they have no reason to lie.

British anti-aircraft gunnery views contrails of battling aircraft over Britain

"There were no contrails in the earlier days of aviation"

Many supporters of the chemtrail theory claim that contrails before the second world war would dissipate in seconds, minutes at the most. However, this simply is not true. Life Magazine has a collection of pictures from 1940 to the late 1980's. In all of these images, persisting and spreading contrails can be seen. Persisting and spreading, are claimed to only be characteristics of modern contrails.

"The anti-agriculture argument"

This argument has to be the most preposterous by far. There is a group of people, they call themselves the Agricultural Defense Coalition (ADC), they claim that the government is using chemtrails as a tool to hurt the agricultural industry. Their leader, Rosalind Peterson, is a retired United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency Agriculture Loss Adjuster. There is one big issue with what the ADC is claiming, the agricultural industry produces food for the country, so why would the government destroy the food source for the people that elect them and put them in position of power. The ADC is also based out of California, the state with the biggest struggle with severe droughts. The state of California is also the countries largest producer of food, and is in the top ten wealthiest states in the United States. Given those facts it makes no sense for the Federal government to continuously hurt California in such a fashion.

The overarching problem

There is one major explanation for why the chemtrail theory cannot be true, and that is power. The people that comprise the higher ranks of government (the Executive branch, and the Legislative branch) invest a ridiculous amount of time and effort into getting to where they are. In 2014, a campaign for a seat in the House of Representatives cost around $2 million. A campaign for a seat in the Senate cost about $12 million. So, when you put the chemtrail conspiracy under a microscope, it doesn't hold up. The United States Federal Government governs over 320 million people, which is a lot compared to a lot of countries around the world. Being in a position to create the regulations that apply to 320 million people is raw power. The theory really starts to break down when you take a step back, and realize that the theorists are claiming that the people who spent millions of dollars to get into a position of power, throw it all away by slowly killing the very people they rule over. There's no power when there's no people to hold the power over. None of it adds up when you take a step back and look at how, and why the government works, and compare it to what supporters of the chemtrail theory are saying the government does Chemtrails boil down to nothing more than anti-government paranoia.