# Question for contrail conspiracists **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533 "2014-07-07T12:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MostlyUseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/1 "2014-07-07T12:38:32Z")
What do those who believe in the contrail conspiracies think that the Government is spewing forth from aircraft? I was watching some WW2 documentary of a large formation of B17s over Germany. How do the conspiracists explain the vast contrails coming off those formations? I mean, do they think the US Government was spewing chemicals then? ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/2 "2014-07-07T12:47:00Z")
Silly boy. Back then the contrail chemicals they used weren’t very good, so it took a large quantity of them to have any effect. Hence the use of large formations of B17s to disperse them. And the US government had to practice on Europe for awhile to get the mixtures right. WW2 wasn’t real. It was just an excuse to justify all of those B17s. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/3 "2014-07-07T13:06:20Z")
Those B-17s were dropping lots of bombs over Europe during WWII to kill people. Some chemicals in the contrails were just icing on the cake. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/4 "2014-07-07T13:41:39Z")
In case an actual CC comes along, I’ll add: To what end do you believe they are spraying? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/5 "2014-07-07T13:48:02Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > In case an actual CC comes along, I’ll add: To what end do you believe they are spraying? It’s a mind fogging agent so you don’t figure out what they’re really up to. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/6 "2014-07-07T13:49:19Z")
I’m an airline pilot, and one of my friends (and a former student pilot!) is a conspiracy theory whacko. One day I asked him to give me the rundown on chemtrails. He claimed that even I would be unaware because it’s only done away from charted routes. And since we always fly on the published airways, the process is easily hidden from us airline types who are not anointed with the secret knowledge. “Um, we fly off airways all the time with GPS”, I said. _silence_ “Oh.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/7 "2014-07-07T13:56:11Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I’m an airline pilot, and one of my friends (and a former student pilot!) is a conspiracy theory whacko. One day I asked him to give me the rundown on chemtrails. He claimed that even I would be unaware because it’s only done away from charted routes. And since we always fly on the published airways, the process is easily hidden from us airline types who are not anointed with the secret knowledge. > > “Um, we fly off airways all the time with GPS”, I said. > > _silence_ > > “Oh.” Now he knows you are part of the conspiracy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MostlyUseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/8 "2014-07-07T14:06:06Z")
…and there’s the problem with the persistent conspiracies. There just is no rational response that will suffice. Pin part of the conspiracy down and they just shift over to another part while not acknowledging the part crushed. I just don’t understand what could be being sprayed or why that would justify the CT. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/9 "2014-07-07T14:11:11Z")
Well in about 15 years, then you’ll understand. You’ll see first hand but then it’ll be too late. Oh you’ll see… YOU’LL ALL SEEEE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/10 "2014-07-07T18:41:34Z")
Chemicals, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/11 "2014-07-07T18:45:17Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > What do those who believe in the contrail conspiracies think that the Government is spewing forth from aircraft? Fluoride ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/12 "2014-07-07T19:47:57Z")
I ran the board for a weekend talk host who never met a conspiracy he didn’t like. He liked to call the “chemtrails” and his theory was the government was spraying us with barium. What barium is supposed to do to us he never really explained. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/13 "2014-07-07T19:53:38Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > I ran the board for a weekend talk host who never met a conspiracy he didn’t like. > He liked to call the “chemtrails” and his theory was the government was spraying us with barium. What barium is supposed to do to us he never really explained. It’s real simple. If you’re coated with barium, x-rays can’t detect diseases so the weak die off. We’re breeding a race of supermen. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/14 "2014-07-07T19:57:50Z")
I read a letter to the editor, published in a local alternative news weekly (New Times of San Luis Obispo), about 15 years ago, that was a rant by a chemtrails loon. While the letter contained nothing coherent that would have addressed the OP’s question, he did conclude with a bit of valuable practical advice. > [@Chemtrail CT loon in San Luis Obispo](#): > > Here’s a health tip: Don’t breathe. ---
**Author:** ![cmdrpiffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cmdrpiffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmdrpiffle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/15 "2014-07-07T20:21:41Z")
> [@sevenwood](#): > > Silly boy. Back then the contrail chemicals they used weren’t very good, so it took a large quantity of them to have any effect. Hence the use of large formations of B17s to disperse them. And the US government had to practice on Europe for awhile to get the mixtures right. > WW2 wasn’t real. It was just an excuse to justify all of those B17s. You’ve said too much already. Please remember the memorandum from the Bishop… ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/16 "2014-07-07T20:31:25Z")
Has anyone ever done calculations of how much liquid a plane would carry in order to make its own contrails? (IE, what is the average density and sie of a contrail?) I’d bet it would be more than most planes could carry. Where are the planes carrying this liquid and how do they support the weight? The whole industry would have to be in on it, if every plane is carrying much more weight than the public specifications let on. And it would either mean every aeronautical engineering student is in on it, or it would mean that all the textbooks are wrong and you learn a new set of principles once you’re “in”, that let a certain size wing carry more weight than the public textbooks (and the laws of physics) let on. And where exactly in the airport, where planes are fueled in plain sight, are these chemicals loaded on? Why doesn’t a conspiracy theorist get a job as an airplane mechanic, and find the secret fueling equipment or the secret giant tanks inside the planes? ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/17 "2014-07-07T20:37:39Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > Has anyone ever done calculations of how much liquid a plane would carry in order to make its own contrails? (IE, what is the average density and sie of a contrail?) I’d bet it would be more than most planes could carry. Where are the planes carrying this liquid and how do they support the weight? See, there you go spouting off logic and reason. You are not allowed to do this. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/18 "2014-07-07T20:49:49Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > And where exactly in the airport, where planes are fueled in plain sight, are these chemicals loaded on? Why doesn’t a conspiracy theorist get a job as an airplane mechanic, and find the secret fueling equipment or the secret giant tanks inside the planes? There are no tanks. The government perfected teleportation decades ago by reverse-engineering the toilets on the UFO that crashed in Roswell. There’s a teleportation unit at the back of each plane and the chemicals are spewed out as they materialize. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/19 "2014-07-07T21:10:02Z")
Contrails are water vapor, and are naturally emitted by jet aircraft under normal flying conditions. Because they remain in place for a prolonged period of time, and they dissipate, they could easily suggest themselves as ideal carriers for other materials besides water vapor – if the operators of the flights chose to do so. I’m not a contrail conspiracist, I’m just answering your question. I have no doubt that there were at least experiments to test the distribution of materials in that way, in case it would prove to be a useful tool in warfare. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/20 "2014-07-07T21:21:55Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Contrails are water vapor, and are naturally emitted by jet aircraft under normal flying conditions. Because they remain in place for a prolonged period of time, and they dissipate, they could easily suggest themselves as ideal carriers for other materials besides water vapor – if the operators of the flights chose to do so. > > I’m not a contrail conspiracist, I’m just answering your question. I have no doubt that there were at least experiments to test the distribution of materials in that way, in case it would prove to be a useful tool in warfare. Seems like a really bad way of dispersing a chemical. You want somebody to inhale a chemical so you dump it into the atmosphere at an altitude of 35,000 feet? How spread out and diluted is it going to be by the time it sinks down to ground level? If the government wanted to secretly put chemicals into our lungs, they’d figure out a way to put them into the air where people breathe. Heck, let’s start a rumor that the government is putting chemicals into catalytic converters so we inhale the chemicals from car exhaust. Or that they’re secretly putting chemicals into air conditioner filters. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533.md?page=2)