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Welcome to Debunking The Chemtrails


Dear readers,

As a pilot, you occasionally come across some fascinating stories about your profession. A while back, there was a conspiracy theory about extraterrestrial life hiding in certain lens-shaped clouds (also known as lenticular clouds and banner clouds). Fortunately, I haven’t heard much about it lately—probably for the best, as I often fly through such clouds. :)

However, there is currently another conspiracy theory that is far more persistent:

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Chemtrails

According to this conspiracy theory, certain alleged contrails that linger and spread out are actually chemtrails. These trails are said to influence the climate and population through chemical additives. Below, I’ll share my opinion on the matter, and as you might guess, I don’t entirely agree. :)

On a deeper level, even this page that presents counterarguments is somewhat futile because, really, who is trying to convince whom? The interesting thing about conspiracy theories is that they can keep you engaged, but if they start inducing too much fear, it’s time to return to the facts and ask the magical question: Who conducted the research?

This means avoiding general assumptions like "everyone knows it" or pointing to "evidence" like photos that turn out to be nonsense, as you’ll see below. Or claims such as "researchers have proven that..."—which researchers? Who is "everyone"? And was the research properly conducted?

I’m a captain and Line Trainer on a Latitude jet (a business jet, which gives me the advantage of occasionally checking my own fuel, as you’ll see below on the hawker 800 in London City), but I’m also deeply involved in meditation and spiritual stuff with my wife. So, I’m not just someone who can be described as purely grounded or practical.

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Hope with these facts below you can let go of the fear and nonsense of chemtrails.



What are Chemtrails

Chemtrails are Contrails


The white condensation trails, known as Chemtrails are officially known as contrails (a combination of condensation and trails), which can slightly dim the sunlight, so they are artificial clouds formed because the exhaust gases from aircraft engines that increase the amount of water vapor and soot particles in the air along a flight path. This usually occurs around 10 kilometers above the Earth's surface, where the air is extremely cold and temperatures drop below -40 degrees Celsius. Similar to breathing out air on a cold day, you leave behind condensation visible as fog.

condensation

Cold air can hold very little water vapor, and the additional water vapor introduced into the atmosphere immediately leads to cloud formation (condensation) in the form of trails. The trail typically starts a short distance behind the aircraft because the heat from the exhaust gases prevents cloud formation near the engines.

These trails reveal a lot about the atmosphere at high altitudes. If they dissipate quickly, it indicates dry air, and the likelihood of a weather change is small. If the contrails dissolve slowly and expand significantly, it usually signals an impending weather change that will likely occur within a few days.

Contrails, or condensation trails, are the white lines we often see in the sky, left behind by airplanes. These artificial clouds form because jet engines release exhaust gases that increase the amount of water vapor and soot in the air along the flight path. This typically occurs at altitudes of about 10 kilometers, where the air is extremely cold, often freezing at more than -40 degrees Celsius.

Cold air can hold very little water vapor, so the additional vapor introduced by the engines immediately condenses into streaks of clouds. The streaks usually begin a short distance behind the airplane because the heat from the exhaust temporarily prevents cloud formation close to the engines.

The behavior of these streaks reveals much about the high-altitude atmosphere. If they dissipate quickly, it suggests dry air and little chance of an imminent weather change. If they linger and spread significantly, it usually indicates a weather change within a few days.

Click here to view the composition of a contrail in English (what it really consists of).


Why are contrails not always white like in the first picture? It has to do with the sun angle. Above is a photo of a contrail illuminated from below.

Why are contrails not always straight? Usually, the wind plays a role, which is not always equally strong everywhere and can also blow vertically (called Clear Air Turbulence, or CAT). Of course, an airplane can also turn, as seen in the second picture during an airshow.

Why are some contrails longer than others? Because some airplanes consume more fuel than others. Above is a photo of a B52 (a very large airplane) with two small jet fighters. The difference in fuel consumption is evident.

How can a contrail appear black? When the sun is perfectly aligned with the contrail, you get a shadow that looks like a black stripe. See picture above.

In this shadow of the contrail, it is clearly visible how the sun is positioned and that the contrail curves while the shadow does not.

Older planes, especially those with reciprocating engines, create a lot of soot. While not really a chemtrail, this is also not the most healthy exhaust.


Due to differences in wind directions you can see the rocket contails change directions in the first picture above.

The second picture is of the Andøya Rocket Range that had a failed rocket launch in Norway 2009

The X-15 in the 3rd picture was an experimental rocket-powered aircraft developed by NASA and the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s. It was designed to study high-speed and high-altitude flight, achieving a top speed of Mach 6.7 (7,273 km/h or 4,520 mph) and altitudes up to 107.8 km (67 miles), reaching the edge of space. The X-15 provided valuable data for spacecraft re-entry and high-speed aerodynamics, contributing to the development of future space programs. It remains one of the fastest manned aircraft ever built, and yes it has a unique contrail as well.

A ramjet is a jet engine that uses the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air without the need for a compressor. It works at high speeds (typically above Mach 1), where the air is forced into the engine at high pressure, mixed with fuel, and ignited to produce thrust. Ramjets are simple and efficient at supersonic speeds but cannot operate when stationary or at low speeds. It creates a special contrail that turns on and off the contrail.

A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a jet engine similar to a ramjet but designed to operate at hypersonic speeds (above Mach 5). Unlike a ramjet, a scramjet allows the incoming air to remain supersonic as it flows through the engine, enabling efficient combustion at extremely high speeds. Scramjets have no moving parts and rely entirely on the aircraft's speed to compress the air. They are ideal for applications like spaceplanes or high-speed missiles but cannot operate at low speeds or from a standstill. Again these planes have another special contrail they produce.

The last picture is a contrail of a Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) that is a jet engine that generates thrust using controlled explosions (detonations) of fuel and air. These detonations create high-pressure shockwaves, which are expelled to produce forward thrust. PDEs are simpler and more efficient than traditional jet engines, especially at supersonic and hypersonic speeds, because detonations release more energy than standard combustion. However, they are still experimental due to challenges in sustaining and controlling the detonation cycles.



Wake Turbulance

What is Wake Turbulance ?


condensation
Wake turbulence is the turbulence that forms in the wake of an aircraft as a result of the airflow over and around its wings. This wake turbulence is concentrated in the form of vortices, which are located directly behind the wingtips of the aircraft and are strongest in the immediate vicinity of the flight path. These vortices result from the high-pressure air beneath the wings spilling over to the low-pressure area above the wings at the tips, creating powerful rotating currents.


The intensity of wake turbulence is directly related to the amount of lift generated by the aircraft. The more lift required—such as during takeoff or when a heavier aircraft is in flight—the stronger the turbulence. In general, larger and heavier aircraft produce more intense wake turbulence. This has implications for flight safety, as smaller or less powerful aircraft flying too close behind a larger aircraft can be adversely affected.

The vortices created by wake turbulence can cause a following aircraft to experience severe rolling moments around its longitudinal axis. This effect is particularly dangerous if the trailing aircraft is not equipped to counteract the roll effectively or if it lacks sufficient altitude or time to recover. In extreme cases, such as when a small aircraft encounters the wake of a much larger one, the resulting instability can lead to loss of control and a crash.

To mitigate the risks of wake turbulence, air traffic controllers maintain safe separation distances between aircraft during takeoff, landing, and en route phases of flight. These separations are larger for smaller aircraft following larger ones. Pilots are also trained to anticipate wake turbulence, especially during takeoff and landing, and can minimize the risk by staying above the flight path of the leading aircraft and avoiding close lateral proximity.

Because the wingtip vortex creates an area of very low pressure within the vortex, it can cause the air's moisture to condense into visible water droplets, forming a cloud-like structure similar to a small tornado. This phenomenon is often mistaken for a contrail; however, it forms through an entirely different mechanism. Unlike contrails, which are caused by the condensation and freezing of water vapor from engine exhaust in cold, high-altitude air, wingtip vortices result purely from the aerodynamic effects of pressure differences around the wings, typically occurring at lower altitudes.

The last 4 images have a smoke generator to make the wake turbulance visable for test purposes.



Fuel Dumping

What is Fuel Dumping and why ?



If an aircraft is too heavy to land safely, it may release fuel, a process known as fuel dumping. This is typically performed in emergencies, such as when the aircraft needs to return to the airport immediately after takeoff. Fuel dumping may also be necessary for other reasons, such as a malfunction in the fuel system. The procedure is carried out through specialized nozzles, usually located on the wings or near the tail. The fuel is released at an altitude and speed that allow it to disperse and evaporate before reaching the ground, minimizing environmental impact. Air traffic control coordinates the operation to ensure it is conducted over safe areas, avoiding populated or sensitive regions.

fuel dumping
In some cases, fuel may also be vented unintentionally. This occurs when excess fuel is transferred between tanks and overflows due to tank capacity limits. The excess fuel is expelled through a controlled outlet, such as a NACA scoop, to prevent overpressure in the tanks.

Both fuel dumping and venting are rare occurrences, strictly monitored by aviation authorities, and designed to prioritize safety while minimizing risks to the environment.



Cloud seeding

What is cloud seeding and why ?


Below is an article in English about cloud seeding. In short, it involves modifying the weather, usually to cause more rain in dry areas, but it also includes removing fog above airports or other important areas. Frozen CO₂ or silver iodide is typically used for this.

Cloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, aims to change the amount or type of precipitation from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that act as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, altering the cloud's microphysical processes. The primary goal is often to increase precipitation (rain or snow), but it is also used for hail suppression and fog removal at airports.

cloud-seeding The most common chemicals used for cloud seeding include silver iodide and dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). Liquid propane, which expands into a gas, has also been used, as it can produce ice crystals at higher temperatures than silver iodide. Hygroscopic materials, such as salt, are becoming more popular due to promising research results.

Cloud seeding requires clouds containing supercooled liquid water—liquid water colder than 0°C. Substances like silver iodide, with a crystalline structure similar to ice, induce freezing nucleation. Dry ice or propane expansion cools the air sufficiently for ice crystals to form spontaneously from water vapor. Unlike silver iodide, this process does not require existing droplets or particles because it generates extremely high vapor supersaturation near the seeding material. However, existing droplets are necessary for ice crystals to grow large enough to precipitate.

In mid-latitude clouds, cloud seeding typically relies on the fact that the equilibrium vapor pressure is lower over ice than water. The formation of ice particles in supercooled clouds allows these particles to grow at the expense of liquid droplets. If they grow enough, the particles become heavy enough to fall as precipitation, which might not occur otherwise. This process is called "static" seeding. Below you see tracks through the clouds that were cloud seeded.

dry-ice-seeding-1946
In warm-season or tropical cumulonimbus (convective) clouds, "dynamic" seeding seeks to harness the latent heat released by freezing. This strategy assumes that the added latent heat increases buoyancy, strengthens updrafts, promotes low-level convergence, and accelerates the growth of selected clouds.

Cloud seeding chemicals can be dispersed by aircraft or ground-based devices (generators or canisters fired from anti-aircraft guns or rockets). Aircraft often ignite and release silver iodide flares as they pass through a cloud's inflow. Ground-based devices release fine particles carried aloft by air currents.

In 2010, researchers from the University of Geneva tested an electronic mechanism by directing infrared laser pulses into the air above Berlin. They hypothesized that these pulses would encourage sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere to form particles acting as cloud seeds.

These pipes contain firework that releases the soot into the clouds for creating condensation nuclei that in turn forms rain drops.



Testing

What do I mean by testing ?


Airborne testing plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of modern aircraft. These tests include weight and balance simulations and icing accumulation studies, both of which use specialized equipment for precise measurements and safety validation.

Below you find 2 pictures of airborne ice accumulation testing.

Icing tests evaluate how ice forms on an aircraft during flight in freezing conditions. Controlled spraying systems create ice on critical surfaces like wings and engines to verify the effectiveness of anti-icing systems and ensure aerodynamic safety.

These systems are used strictly for testing and have no connection to atmospheric spraying.



Airborne refueling


Below you find some images of military planes that refuel in the air to complete long missions.


Weight and Balance Testing


You can’t just load an aircraft full of baggage and passengers without knowing how much you can carry and where everything should be placed. This needs to be tested and represented in a graph to ensure that the limits are not exceeded. Below is a brief explanation:

It is easiest to explain using a small aircraft. If too much weight is aft, the aircraft wants to pitch up and you need too much force to push it down to keep it straight and level. The same applies for too much weight forward. So there is a limit and this is normally indicated with a graph showing the CG (Center of Gravity) that is the balance point and how much you can go forward and back from this CG point.

Weight and balance testing ensures aircraft stability under varying load conditions. Engineers use water ballast systems, consisting of tanks and tubes, to simulate different weight distributions. Water is ideal due to its precise weight and adjustability.

Images of tanks and pipes inside test aircraft often depict this setup, which is self-contained and not connected to external spraying systems.


Often these types of pictures are used in conspiracy theories, saying that these containers hold chemicals that influence humanity below. Well the fact is that they only hold water to test the weight and balance limits. The exception here is the last picture. This is a strange one as these containers carry fuel. It was an American boeing 727 in Angola that disappeared with 14.000 gallons of diesel back in 2003.



Weather phenomena

Weather phenomena that looks like man made ?


Many clouds may look like contrails or chemicals in the air but are in fact just natural weather phenomena. The most interesting one related to our story are the lenticular clouds. they are produced by strong winds over mountenous terrain where the wind is forced up and down like waves that create the lenticular clouds that look like contrails. Below an explanation:



Sometimes dust from the desert is blown up into the clouds and is being transported over large distances. You sometimes see after rain that some sand remains on your car, normally red in color. This is sahara sand or other large desert surface sand. On a radar image this looks like the image below:



Below you find some more interesting cloud formations, such as the noctilucent clouds, cirrus clouds and nakreous clouds:


Click on the images to see the name of the cloud.



Space Phenomena

Aurora


The aurora is a light phenomenon in the Earth's atmosphere that can be observed in darkness. It is most commonly seen at high geographic latitudes, meaning the phenomenon is primarily visible during winter. Other names for it are northern lights (aurora borealis) and southern lights (aurora australis). When the aurora occurs, we often see a faint glow, or the light appears as moving arcs, beams, or curtains of light, and very rarely, it even appears as flames. Sometimes, a band can be seen along the northern horizon from which light rays shoot upwards like searchlights.

The aurora is associated with eruptions (plasma clouds) on the sun, during which large amounts of charged particles are hurled into space. The Earth's magnetic field deflects this stream of particles around the planet, and near the North and South Poles, the particles enter the atmosphere at increased speed. These solar particles carry a lot of energy, which is transferred to oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper kilometers of the atmosphere through collisions. This energy is eventually released and radiated at altitudes of 80 to 1,000 kilometers in the form of the colorful aurora. This was only discovered in 1957, during the International Geophysical Year.


Comets


Comets are small celestial bodies that orbit a star in often very elliptical paths and consist of ice, gas, and dust ("dirty snowballs"). When a comet comes close enough to a star and warms up, part of its material sublimates, forming a so-called coma (an atmosphere) and/or a comet tail. The solid part of the comet is then referred to as the comet nucleus.

Comets consist of a nucleus (1-50 kilometers) surrounded by a gas cloud (coma) measuring 100,000 to 1,000,000 kilometers in size, and one or more long tails (extending to over 150 million kilometers). The orbital period around the star can range from a few years to many thousands of years.



Fire Fighting

Airborne fire fighting


This is a bit self explanatory, but let it be clear that if you want to fight a fire fast, the airplane is the best method. Evergreen is the number 1 company in Ohio, USA that produces large fire fighting aircraft like the boeing 747. In the first picture below you see Sam Whit from Evergreen showing guests the extinguishing exhausts of a 747 evergreen boeing.



Real Chemtrails

What is Agent Orange and Agent Blue?

During the Vietnam War (1955–1975), the United States used chemical defoliants as part of its military strategy. The most infamous of these chemicals were Agent Orange and Agent Blue. These were not harmless "vapors" or conspiracy theories; they were very real, deadly substances designed to destroy vegetation, food crops, and forest cover.

Agent Orange: A herbicide containing dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals ever created. It was used to strip trees and plants, exposing enemy troops hiding in dense jungles.

Agent Blue: Specifically targeted rice crops, a crucial food source for Vietnamese forces. It worked by desiccating (drying out) plants, leading to widespread famine and suffering.

When Were These Chemicals Used?

The US military sprayed over 19 million gallons of herbicides over South Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. This campaign, called Operation Ranch Hand, was part of an effort to weaken the Viet Cong by removing their food sources and hiding spots.

The Aftermath: How Bad Was It?

The effects of Agent Orange and Agent Blue were devastating. The chemicals caused:

Environmental destruction: Millions of acres of forest and farmland were destroyed, some areas permanently damaged.

Human suffering: Thousands of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers were exposed to toxic chemicals. The consequences included cancers, birth defects, and chronic illnesses that continue to plague generations.

Veteran health crises: Many US veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange developed severe health problems, including rare cancers and autoimmune diseases.

Unlike the fictional "chemtrails" seen in conspiracy theories, the chemical sprays used in Vietnam were proven, documented, and resulted in lasting harm to both people and the environment.



Crop dusting / bug spray

And than you have the crop dusters and bug spray planes that also produce real chemtrails.



Military radar suppression

There are also experiments to block radar images by using aluminum particles in the air, but you cannot see them, it just blocks the radar.