Chemtrail Conspiracy

Thanks to @hrb264 for this idea.

This is another conspiracy theory that is right up my alley. 'Chemtrail' is a combined word that means chemical and trail, meaning condensation trail, which stands for contrail. The theory is that those long lasting trails from airplanes high in the stratosphere are chemical or biological agents that are deliberately being sprayed to cause illnesses and other health problems. The idea is that if the contrails last a long time they must have these insidious secrete chemical agents in them. The list of possible chemicals includes: barium and aluminum salts, polymers, thorium and silicon carbide. Some barium and aluminum salts are soluble. Aluminum oxide has to be dissolved in an acid like Hydrofluoric acid. Polymers would not cause problems unless they were fibers, which could clog equipment. Thorium is radioactive. Silicon carbide is also known as carborundum, which is an abrasive.

This conspiracy theory came about because of a paper entitled 'Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025'. This was a strategic plan to be able to modify the weather in response to enemy action. Combine this with the idea of crop dusting using aircraft and the use of chemical warfare in recent times by Iraq and Syria, and you end up with a conspiracy theory that the United States Air Force is actually trying to poison us.

Contrails are formed in the stratosphere (8-16 kilometers up). Any chemicals dispersed at that altitude would probably be spread all over an extremely wide area, thus diluting their effect. Many would be rendered ineffective. This concept is almost like chemical warfare in which bio agents like anthrax or nerve poisons like ricin or saran are dispersed over a populated area like a city. Chemical warfare like this is done at low altitude or even at ground level, not from the stratosphere.

A contrail is condensed water vapor from combustion in aircraft engines at high altitude. These contrails can persist for hours and only slowly disperse from wind shear. How long they last depends upon the winds up there.

This conspiracy theory is sometimes mixed up with the 'High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program'. This was a joint project of the United States Air Force and Navy for the purpose of enhancing radio transmission through the ionosphere using high-power radio transmitters. This involved transmitting a 3.6 Mega Watt signal in the 2.8 - 10 Mega Hertz range into the ionosphere to create a reliable and accurate method of communication, obviously for military purposes. The main reason this was done is because of the sun's effect on high frequency radio transmissions. As you might know, the ionosphere is where high-energy emissions from our sun interact with the atmosphere to create ionization, which alters radio transmissions. Normal radio transmissions like short-wave bounce off the ionosphere in a skipping manner. In any event, this has nothing to do with contrails, but it didn't stop the theorists from proposing that it was an attempt by the military to alter weather, such as causing hurricanes, typhoons, thunderstorms, power outages, and even earthquakes. None of these natural phenomena can be affected by radio transmissions.
Some of the theories about chemtrails is that they are meant to: cull the Earth's population by 80%; cool the planet to alleviate global warming; spraying to counter a EMP (Electromotive pulse) attack; spray ebola or other viruses to eliminate old people.

The only possible idea would be the global warming concept. Spraying fine dust like a volcano would emit could help cool the Earth. However, it would be too expensive. The other ideas are too far fetched.

I really don't understand what all the hullabaloo is about. Contrails have been around for a long time, going back to World War II. They were common when jetliners became flying in the 50's. Nothing has happened yet. So, why worry about it. Life's too short for that.

Thanks for reading.