# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/61 "2014-07-08T21:09:04Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > The only thing is she mumbled “something silver something” being in the drops and there’s nothing like that mentioned on the web page. Oh boy, not colloidal silver! Does she look like [Smurfette](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/medical/colloidal-silver-blue-skin.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/62 "2014-07-08T21:59:44Z")
They contain GMOs. ---
**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 8, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/63 "2014-07-08T22:41:59Z")
I did some perusing of the [toolsforfreedom.com](http://toolsforfreedom.com) site. It’s hard to believe that anybody, even a CTer, would take that site seriously. They have a book [The Secrets of Immortality](http://www.toolsforfreedom.com/product-p/7351.htm). If you want a laugh read the user-posted review. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/64 "2014-07-09T02:29:35Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Yes they have indeed. > > [Contrails v Chemtrails: The Science That Debunks The Conspiracy | Irish Weather Online](http://irishweatheronline.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/contrails-v-chemtrails-the-science-that-debunks-the-conspiracy/comment-page-4/) > > Original paper is here: [http://ciresweb.colorado.edu/science/groups/pielke/classes/atoc7500/knollenberg72.pdf](http://ciresweb.colorado.edu/science/groups/pielke/classes/atoc7500/knollenberg72.pdf) > > So, taking the average figure of about 31kg of water per metre of visible contrail, and the average cruising speed of a Boeing 747 of about 560mph (250 metres per second), we can see that an airliner is creating about **7.75 tonnes of contrail every second!** > > The 747-400 has a maximum take-off weight of 397 tonnes, and an unladen weight of 180 tonnes, giving a maximum load-carrying capacity of 217 tonnes (including fuel!) > > Even if it had no fuel on board, it could only carry enough “chem” to make 28 seconds of “trail”. They could be carried aloft…by a swallow! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/65 "2014-07-09T02:33:00Z")
In Tucson, most of the chemtrail signs people nail up on telephone poles I see seem to imply the government is spraying Agent Orange (or some modification thereof). I’m not sure why, but apparently that’s what the ones around here believe. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/66 "2014-07-09T03:12:34Z")
Isn’t Agent Orange a defoliant? I’ve been to Tucson and I gotta ask, how could you tell it had been defoliated? It sorta came that way, didn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![MostlyUseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/67 "2014-07-09T11:07:33Z")
I grew up in Tucson and since 1970, the look of Tucson hasn’t changed. It is a freaking desert why would you need to defoliate a desert? That is just criminally stupid. Just as importantly, I have seen plenty of photos of old Arizona from Arizona Highways magazine and it has always looked precisely the same. I really would like to hear from one of these CTers just so maybe I can understand how this particular CT starts in their minds. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/68 "2014-07-09T12:34:39Z")
Sesame Street was in on this indoctrination too back in the 70s! Doesn’t anyone remember Alphabet Bates creating chemtrail letters? We didn’t listen! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/69 "2014-07-09T13:07:43Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Sesame Street was in on this indoctrination too back in the 70s! Doesn’t anyone remember Alphabet Bates creating chemtrail letters? We didn’t listen! It wasn’t his fault! He was forced to by the evil Master Bates because he knew it would corrupt our children! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/70 "2014-07-09T13:10:20Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > You spray chemical X into the air at 30,000 feet, presumably to see what effect it has on the people who come into contact with it, as far as I can gather. But how on earth do you collect the data to find out? You don’t have any way of knowing who did and didn’t come into contact with the chemical. You don’t know what areas it actually landed on, because the wind would blow the vapour around in ways that aren’t completely predictable or measurable. Coincidentally, :dubious: last night I was reading about the first use of poison gas in WWI. The initial release by the Germans in Flanders worked well :eek: because the wind was blowing in the right direction; the next release sort of backfired when the wind suddenly reversed direction and blew the gas back on German troops. It must be challenging figuring out wind dispersal patterns over tens of thousands of feet so that everyone gets the right chemtrail dosage. But in the end, all you gotta do is connect the dots. Chemtrails, Satan, HAARP, GMOs… [they’re all part of the plan.](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=54323) 😕:eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/71 "2014-07-09T20:21:47Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > > [@jasg](#): > > > > Dihydrogen monoxide. > > _gasp_ Poison! That stuff is no joke. Deadly if sufficient quantities contact the lungs. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/72 "2014-07-10T17:55:40Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > That stuff is no joke. Deadly if sufficient quantities contact the lungs. Doesn’t even have to hit your lungs. Drinking too much of it at once will also kill you. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/73 "2014-07-10T22:31:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Coincidentally, :dubious: last night I was reading about the first use of poison gas in WWI. The initial release by the Germans in Flanders worked well :eek: because the wind was blowing in the right direction; the next release sort of backfired when the wind suddenly reversed direction and blew the gas back on German troops. > > It must be challenging figuring out wind dispersal patterns over tens of thousands of feet so that everyone gets the right chemtrail dosage. > > But in the end, all you gotta do is connect the dots. Chemtrails, Satan, HAARP, GMOs… [they’re all part of the plan.](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=54323) 😕:eek::smack: I think that link melted some of my brain cells. :eek: What you said about dosage, though: that, too. Even assuming that you don’t care about documenting the effects of Chemical X, you just want to get it to as many people as possible - what on earth kind of chemical is this where the safe-but-effective dose is the same for a 250-pound man and a newborn? Wouldn’t there be horrible incidents where everyone under 100 pounds in a neighbourhood drops dead, or is rushed to the ER with matching mysterious symptoms? And wouldn’t there be incidents where the wind does something unexpected, one neighbourhood gets the full payload and all of a sudden a whole town is doing the Evil Minion Transformation from Despicable Me? Some conspiracy theories, even though I don’t believe them, I can see and accept the logic underlying them. But I just don’t get how chemtrails make any sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/74 "2014-07-10T23:53:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Coincidentally, :dubious: last night I was reading about the first use of poison gas in WWI. The initial release by the Germans in Flanders worked well :eek: because the wind was blowing in the right direction; the next release sort of backfired when the wind suddenly reversed direction and blew the gas back on German troops. > > It must be challenging figuring out wind dispersal patterns over tens of thousands of feet so that everyone gets the right chemtrail dosage. > > But in the end, all you gotta do is connect the dots. Chemtrails, Satan, HAARP, GMOs… [they’re all part of the plan.](http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=54323) 😕:eek::smack: > [@TimeCube Guy's brother](#): > > When I look up in the air and see the concocted soup of aluminum, barium, red blood cells from who knows what … Red blood cells? Did I miss another Illuminati meeting or something? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/75 "2014-07-11T01:07:25Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Mind control. Duh. More insidious than that: it is a secret corrosive agent that leaves tin foil riddled with microscopic holes: your hat will stop working and you will never realize it. (Does not work on aluminum foil, but that is ok because aluminum foil _amplifies_ the mind control signals.) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/76 "2014-07-11T04:43:11Z")
Slight hijack: Anyone remember one of the staff at Presidio of Monterey back in the 1980s who, convinced the Chinese consulate in San Francisco was trying to control his mind with microwaves, would always wear an actual aluminum-foil hat only while driving? I wonder how he explained how he wasn’t targeted when he _was not_ a moving target. I also wonder what other WONJCTs he bought into as, in my experience, those who buy into one buy into all. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/77 "2014-07-11T14:21:51Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > More insidious than that: it is a secret corrosive agent that leaves tin foil riddled with microscopic holes: your hat will stop working and you will never realize it. (Does not work on aluminum foil, but that is ok because aluminum foil _amplifies_ the mind control signals.) Interestingly, I was just listening to a podcast that mentioned a published study in which it was demonstrated that a tin foil hat would actually have the effect of concentrating and amplifying any electromagnetic signals for the person wearing it, rather than shielding them. It made me happy. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/78 "2014-07-11T17:20:09Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Interestingly, I was just listening to a podcast that mentioned a published study in which it was demonstrated that a tin foil hat would actually have the effect of concentrating and amplifying any electromagnetic signals for the person wearing it, rather than shielding them. It made me happy. Tin foil hats hat make people wearing them happy? That’s good to know. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/79 "2014-07-12T07:03:58Z")
Typically, I am not a sadist by nature, but conspiracy theories/theorists bring it out in me. When someone tries to tell you about “chemtrails,” point out to them that those are only the ones that they see. When the atmospheric conditions are right, there is no trace when aircraft fly overhead, and so far, the gummint has not figured out how to prevent the visible evidence, but you can bet the farm that they are hard at work on it! BTW, I grew up next to an Air Force base in the late '50s and early sixties. Dad was an aeronautical engineer (which is why we lived near an AFB), and told us that they were called “contrails,” so the terminology is at least 50+ years old. I always assumed that it was AF-speak for “condensation trails,” which exactly what they are. The visible portion, that is. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533/80 "2014-07-12T07:37:03Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Mind control. Duh. That’s what TV is for! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-contrail-conspiracists/692533.md?page=5)