No, really. I saw it in the paper edition, and here it is on the website. It’s, uh, insightful.
For reference, occasionally a long-haul flight will go over us at cruising altitude, but Santa Fe isn’t exactly near even a minor airport. I haven’t a goddamn clue when all these days when the sun is blotted out by - well, anything, even regular clouds - are, nor where all these erratically-flying planes are*.
Also for reference, this paper is the journalistic powerhouse which in late November ran a full-page, full-color ad which was paragraph after paragraph of crazy-speak about how the End Is Near, and We’ve Been Warned, etc. (Which I typed up a copy of for posterity, if anyone would like to read it.)
Mundane. Pointless. Had to share.
*<insert tremendously tasteless joke about the recent crash here>
In the newspaper’s defense, Letters to the Editor is the only place in many communities where the ordinary citizen has a voice. It has long been the duty and honor of newspapers to provide a public forum for all community members and all opinions, regardless of how wacky or far-fetched they may seem. While most editorial page editors are willing to trim letters for length, they take pains to preserve the meaning and "heart’ of the letter.
Similarly, advertising is the lifeblood of newspapers, and unless an ad is outright libelous or “patently offensive by community standards”, there’s nothing wrong with running it. Ridicule the message if you want (and the ones referred to in the OP are truly ridiculous) but spare the messenger.
There have been several times where I’ve peaked Opera Hill coming into town from the north side and seen over 25 individual contrails. It’s quite surprising, but they’re always there, it’s just that you can only see them when the lighting angle and atmospheric conditions are just right. Even with 25 crisscrossing the sky, it wasn’t anywhere close to blotting out the sun. Also, they’re always basically straight, since the planes generally take a great circle route. I must say, though, those days are pretty awesome, because the same atmospheric conditions that make all the contrails visible also make for the most awesome sunsets. I think both the New Mexican and the Reporter publish just about every letter they get, though; I’ve seen some doozies.