# What Would Cause The Interior Of A Plane In Flight To Get Foggy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 30, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345 "2022-12-30T17:25:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/1 "2022-12-30T17:25:21Z")

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[#6 in this list](https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/reddit-weird-alternate-reality-glitch-in-matrix?origin=tuh): the passenger took a pic from a plane that appared, for lack of a better choice of words, foggy. What could cause that?

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/2 "2022-12-30T17:32:01Z")

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I’ve seen this - the crew had the door open in a very humid Key West, then closed the door and blasted the AC. Would’ve been better with a laser light show, though.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/3 "2022-12-30T19:29:34Z")

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'Zactly. Condensation coming out of the very cold vents versus the very humid cabin air. If you open the door to a grocery store refrigerator cabinet in humid FL you’ll sometimes see fog cascading out. Same idea.

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**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/4 "2022-12-31T03:48:35Z")

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Saw it a few times riding backwards in a C-141. The fog would come creeping forward enveloping the cargo pallets, slowly, ever so slowly, advancing nearer, still nearer, until it muffled the screams …

Sure looked spooky though.

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/5 "2022-12-31T03:52:08Z")

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Decompression can also cause fogging (something I learned from watching pilot’s videos on youtube). They might have had a problem with their cabin pressure system.

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**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/6 "2022-12-31T04:28:17Z")

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I think it has to be reasonably abrupt to cause fogging, so you’d also expect to see the rubber jungle (oxygen masks) and a general atmosphere of panic amongst the passengers.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-cause-the-interior-of-a-plane-in-flight-to-get-foggy/977345/7 "2022-12-31T11:09:27Z")

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Seen it in the Philippines with the door still open and people entering the aircraft. It was fun watching people briefly get worried expressions on their faces.