By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Mar. 16, 2002


Chalky lines streak across the sky.

To most people, they're contrails, particles of ice that form around jet exhaust and dissipate as the ice descends, melts and evaporates.

A small but vocal band of Internet and talk-radio believers, however, sees a different truth out there. They see ``chemtrails'' -- the residue of a secret government program to spray chemicals on an unknowing American public.

Federal agencies and scientists repeatedly have issued denials that chemtrails exist.

``They're just contrails... nothing more,'' said Dr. Thomas Schmidlin, a geography professor and weather expert at Kent State University.

But chemtrail believers discount such statements as part of the government conspiracy and cover-up.

``It's a story that's going to break, and people are going to be held accountable for this,'' said Michael Castle of Columbus.

The two sides have waged a sometimes-polite, sometimes-nasty debate for about four years, with neither side budging in what sounds like a plot from The X-Files.

Even U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Lakewood, stepped into the murky fray late last year by introducing a bill that would ban chemtrails as weapons.

Theories for spraying

Believers such as Castle say they don't know why the chemicals -- barium and aluminum salts, polymer fibers, thorium, silicon carbide -- are being sprayed from aircraft.

They theorize about experiments to control the weather and curb global warming, about advanced military radar and anti-bacterial chemical weapons. Chemtrails, they say, could be the cause of Gulf War syndrome.

They point to contrails that linger for hours and spread into clouds, to multiple contrails that form shapes in the sky, to contrails from unmarked planes.

``It's a form of pollution that's untold,'' Castle said. ``It's over every city. It's like a pall of bad air.... It's horrible, horrible.''

Kucinich's bill listed chemtrails as one of the types of space weaponry that should be banned. Also listed were particle beams, electromagnetic radiation, plasma or extremely low-frequency energy radiation, and mind control.

The bill has been rewritten, said Kucinich spokeswoman Kathie Scarrah, and the references to chemtrails and the other types of weapons were quietly eliminated.

She said she's unable to say why chemtrails were listed in the original version. But the bill was reworked into more general terms in an effort to win support for banning weapons in space, Scarrah said.

Government response

Since the chemtrail conspiracy theory surfaced four year ago, federal agencies have been flooded with thousands of telephone calls, letters and e-mails from angry people demanding to know what's being sprayed and why.

In late 2000, four federal agencies -- the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- jointly published a fact sheet on the formation of contrails.

Earlier, the Air Force put out its own fact sheet that called chemtrails ``a hoax'' and tried to dismiss opponents' arguments.

``In short, there is no such thing as a `chemtrail' -- the actual contrails are safe and are... natural phenomena,'' wrote Air Force Col. Michael Gibson in a 2000 letter to Congress. ``They pose no health threat of any kind.''

Kent State's Schmidlin said contrails, or condensation trails, are formed by the exhaust from burning jet fuel at high altitudes -- up to 40,000 feet. Water vapor may also condense over the wings of high-altitude planes.

Whether contrails form depends in part on the humidity at that level, and they may linger in the sky for 20 minutes to an hour, he said.

There is a logical explanation for strange-shaped contrails, said Patrick Minnis, an atmospheric scientist with NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.

The tracks in the sky may shift with winds, he said. Multiple tracks are left behind by planes flying in different directions or at slightly different times.

Minnis, an expert on contrails and an active debunker of chemtrails, said people are noticing contrails more often because of increased aircraft traffic.

Contrails may form wispy cirrus clouds and could contribute to global warming, he said, but that's a new issue under study.

But explanations offered by Minnis and other contrail experts don't satisfy chemtrail believers.

Believers get involved

No one knows how many people believe in chemtrails. In June, about 75 believers met at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton for the second statewide rally organized by Ohio Citizens Against Chemtrails.

Believers are circulating Internet petitions asking Congress to disclose what is being sprayed, seeking the cessation of all spraying and requesting enforcement of existing federal laws that prohibit exposure without informed consent.

Castle, a 52-year-old polymer chemist and an environmental risk assessor, said proving that chemtrails are real could be done for $20,000. That's how much it would cost to collect and analyze samples from behind high-flying jets.

When asked why he got involved in the chemtrail fight, Castle said he has no idea.

``It's been belligerent courage from Day One,'' he said.``I feel strong in my belief. I know it's terribly wrong and affects me and my family and my environment.''

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Stolen Skies: The Chemtrail Mystery
Jet Trails in the Sky Used to Disappear. Now they Linger.

by William Thomas

It was around noon on March 12, 2000 when S.T. Brendt, the late night reporter for WMWV Radio, entered the kitchen of her country home in Parsonsfield, Maine. Her partner, Lou Aubuchont, was puzzling over what he had seen in the sky a half-hour before. The fat puffy plumes arching up over the horizon were unlike any aircraft condensation trails ("contrails") he had ever seen.

     Instead of dissipating like normal contrails, these intersecting sky trails grew wider and began to merge. Looking towards the sun, Aubuchont saw what appeared like "an oil and water mixture" reflecting a prismatic band of colors.

     Ordinarily, contrails flare briefly in the stratosphere as hot moist engine exhaust flash-freezes into a stream of ice-crystals. These pencil-thin condensation trails are short-lived, evaporating into invisibility as exhaust gases cool quickly to the surrounding air temperature.

     As National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorologist Thomas Schlatter explains, the formation of condensation trails requires temperatures lower than about minus 76 F and humidity of 70 percent or more. Because the Federal Aviation Authority requires military tankers and transporters to cross continental airspace at altitudes below 30,000 feet, ensuring safe separation from airliners flying between 35,000 and 39,000 feet, these military flights should leave no contrails at all.

     But in late 1997, Aubuchont began to notice thicker trails extending from horizon to horizon. Hanging in the sky, these expanding white ribbons would invariably be interwoven by more thick lines left by unmarked Air Force jets, white or silver in color.

     As Brendt glanced out the window, it looked like another gorgeous, cloudless day. But not quite. She spotted two jets laying billowing white banners to the north. Turning her gaze due west, Brendt saw two more lines extending over the horizon. She called Lou. Within 45 minutes, the couple counted 30 jets. "This isn't right," Brendt thought. "We just don't have that kind of air traffic here." While Aubuchont kept counting, Brendt started calling airports.

     Alerted by a call from Brendt, Richard Dean, WMWV's assistant news director and the WMWV news staff filed outside and counted 370 lines of persistent contrails in skies usually devoid of aerial activity.

     Brendt phoned a number of Air Traffic Controllers. They all stated that nothing unusual was going on. After several calls, Brendt reached one ATC manager who offered a different story. He told Brendt that his radars showed nine commercial jets during the same 45-minute span. From her location, he said, she should have been able to see only one plane.

      "What about the other 29?" Brendt inquired. The ATC official confided off-the-record that he had been ordered "by higher civil authority" to re-route inbound European airliners away from an airborne "military exercise" in the area. "They wouldn't give me any of the particulars and I don't ask," he explained. The controller (who insisted on being identified only as "Deep Sky,") subsequently repeated his statements on tape before witnesses at the WMWV studio.

'It's a Military Exercise'
On December 8, 2000, Terry Stewart, the Manager for Planning and Environment at the Victoria International Airport, responded to a caller's complaint about the strange patterns of circles and grids being woven over the British Columbia capitol. Stewart left a message on an answering machine tape - a message that later was heard by more than 15 million radio listeners. Stewart explained: "It's a military exercise, [a] US and Canadian Air Force exercise that's going on. They wouldn't give me any specifics on it."

     Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox on Vancouver Island is Canada's biggest radar installation. CFB Comox is easily capable of tracking the US formations coming up from the south. When asked for a response to Stewart's statement, the base information officer at CFB Comox replied tersely that: "No military operation is taking place." Stewart later told the Vancouver Courier that his information had come directly from Comox.

     By the summer of 2001, pictures of contrails were being circulated by the Associated Press and the word "chemtrails" could be overheard in coffee shop conversations across the continent

'It's a Hoax'
In an April 20, 2001, letter to a US senator, Col. Walter Washbaugh, chief of the Congressional Inquiry Division for the Secretary of the Air Force in Washington, DC, called chemtrails "a hoax." Washbaugh blamed the increased number of contrails on "significant civil aviation growth in the past decade."

     He is right on that score. A National Science Foundation study has found that in certain heavily trafficked corridors, artificial cloud cover has increased by as much as 20 percent.

     Colonel Washbaugh ascribed widely reported grid patterns to overlapping aircraft flying north-south, east-west airways. The only thing wrong with this explanation, a Texas air traffic controller told me, is that US airways do not run north-south.

     The colonel told the senator: "The Air Force is not conducting any weather modification and has no plans to do so in the future." In fact, the Pentagon has long been interested in using weather as a weapon of war. Attempts to steer hurricanes by spraying heat-robbing chemicals in their paths date from the 1950s. The recipe for creating "cirrus shields" was outlined in a 1996 US Air Force study subtitled "Owning the Weather by 2025." The report explained how "weather force specialists" were dispersing chemicals behind high-flying tanker aircraft in a process called "aerial obscuration."

     Official denials reached new altitudes of absurdity when another colonel claimed: "The US Air Force (USAF) does not conduct spraying operations over populated areas." Apparently the colonel had forgotten how USAF air tankers dispensed thousands of tons of "Agent Orange" defoliants over the land and people of Vietnam.

     Meanwhile, the Internet was abuzz with chemtrail conspiracy theories ranging from aliens leaving messages in the sky to government agencies dumping mind-control chemicals on an unsuspecting populace. The only problem was none of the theories were plausible.

The Welsbach Patent
In 1994, the Hughes aerospace company was issued a remarkable patent. The Welsbach patent "for Reduction of Global Warming" proposed countering global warming by dispensing microscopic particles of aluminum oxide and other reflective materials into the upper atmosphere. This "sky shield" would reflect one or two percent of incoming sunlight. The patent suggested that tiny metal flakes could be "added to the fuel of jet airliners, so that the particles would be emitted from the jet engine exhaust while the airliner was at its cruising altitude."

     Computer simulations by Ken Caldeira at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) calculated that employing Welsbach's chemical-sunscreen technology could stop warming over 85 percent of the planet, despite an anticipated doubling of atmospheric carbon within the next 50 years. LLNL estimated the cost of creating thisso-called Sky Shield at $1 billion dollars a year - a cheap fix to avoid threatening the massive profits of the oil industry.

     At the 1998 International Seminar on Planetary Emergencies, Edward Teller, the "Father of the H-bomb," presented his Next Big Idea. Teller called for spreading reflective chemicals over the Earth to act like a mirror-shade. If it was impossible to protect the entire planet, these chemical sky shields could, at least, be extended to cover allies who secretly agreed to allow this unprecedented geo-engineering experiment to be carried out over their territory.

     In the July-August 1998 Science and Technology Review, Teller argued that the Sky Shield offered a more "realistic" option for addressing global warming than drastic cutbacks in CO2 emissions.

     When asked if the technology was being pursued, Teller replied: "To my knowledge the answer is negative.... My recommendation was a tentative one depending on further evidence whether expecting global warming is realistic."

     In fact, the technology already exists. In 1975, the US Navy patented a device for producing "a powder contrail having maximum radiation-scattering ability." The powder contained a mixture of 0.3 micron-sized titanium dioxide pigment particles coated with 0.007 micron hydrophobic colloidal silica and 4.5 micron particles of silica gel. The purpose of the apparatus was "to generate contrails or reflective screens for any desired purpose."

     The Welsbach Patent proposed using "very fine, talcum-like" powder of 10 to 100 micron-sized aluminum oxide to produce a "pure white plume" in the sky.

     In a May 2000 draft report submitted to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an expert panel chosen from among 3,000 atmospheric scientists, concluded that Teller's scheme might work. But the IPCC warned against unpredictable upsets of the atmosphere. The panel also warned against angry populaces reacting to "the associated whitening of the visual appearance of the sky."

     Caldeira was so concerned that he went public. Deflecting sunlight would further cool the stratosphere, he warned, and this could intensify icy clouds of ozone-gobbling CFCs that could destroy the ozone layer - the Earth's already damaged solar radiation shield.

     Was Teller's Sky Shield experiment already underway? During his interview with WMWV reporters, Deep Sky hinted that it was. Were the tankers observed on ATC radars involved in climate modification? Our FAA source hesitated before responding: "That approximates what I was told." Similar military activities were ongoing in other regions, he stated.

Chemtrails and Health Problems
The Internet buzzes with conspiracy theories about chemtrails being used as part of a secret government biological experiment. But after more than three years of intense investigation, I have found no proof that chemtrails constitute a deliberate biological attack. (To be effective, bio-attacks must conducted close to the ground and never in daylight, in order to avoid ultraviolet sterilization of toxins.)

     In the spring of 1998, rain falling through heavy chemtrails over Espanola, Ontario was found to contain concentrations of aluminum particles seven times higher than permitted by Canadian health safety laws. Provincial health officials ordered tests after residents began complaining about severe headaches, chronic joint pain, dizziness, sudden extreme fatigue, acute asthma attacks and feverless "flu-like" symptoms. The results of the test were not released.

     The reports of illness all came from residents inside a 50-square-mile area who complained that they had been subjected to "months of spraying" by photo-identified US Air Force tanker planes. The USAF denied the intrusions.

     On November 18, 1998, Canadian Opposition Party Defense Critic Gordon Earle petitioned Parliament on behalf of the people of Espanola. Speaking on behalf of Canada's New Democratic Party, Earle stated:

      "Over 500 residents of the Espanola area have signed a petition raising concern over possible government involvement in what appears to be aircraft emitting visible aerosols. They have found high traces of aluminum and quartz in particulate and rainwater samples. These concerns combined with associated respiratory ailments have led these Canadians to take action and seek clear answers from this government. The petitioners call upon Parliament to repeal any law that would permit the dispersal of military chaff or of any cloud-seeding substance whatsoever by domestic or foreign military aircraft without the informed consent of the citizens of Canada thus affected."

     A Harvard School of Public Health team determined that particulates with a diameter less than 10 microns (one-tenth the thickness of a human hair) pose a serious threat to public health. On April 21, 2001, the New York Times warned: "These microscopic motes are able to infiltrate the tiniest compartments in the lungs and pass readily into the bloodstream, and have been most strongly tied to illness and early death, particularly in people who are already susceptible to respiratory problems."

     On December 14, 2000, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that inhaling particulate matter of a size 10 microns or smaller leads to "a 5 percent increased death rate within 24 hours." Teller's sunscreen calls for spraying 10 million tons of talcum-fine reflective particulates of 10 to 100 micron sizes.

Congress Addresses Chemtrails
On October 2, 2001, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced the "Space Preservation Act of 2001" (HR 2977), which called for the elimination of "exotic weaponry" from space. Among the weapons to be banned were weather-modifying weapons such as HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) and chemtrails. Though HR 3616 was later amended to remove the section that would have banned chemtrails, the original bill acknowledging the existence of chemtrail technology remains on the pages of the Congressional Record.

     With "chemtrails" now officially admitted by the US government, an even bigger trial is set to begin in the court of public opinion.

An earlier version of this report appeared in the October-November 2001 issue of Nexus Magazine [PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. www.nexusmagazine.com].

Edited reprint. Not available for distribution.


Chemtrails Go Global
Sightings of oddly lingering plumes sometimes resembling rocket trails are not confined to North American skies.

     While on leave in Italy in the summer of 1999, the US Navy's Kitty Chastain sat on her hotel balcony and watched aerial grids being laid all day just offshore over the Bay of Naples.

     In Spain, on April 27, 2000, American tourist John Hendricks dashed off a quick email from El Café de Internet: "Were we surprised to see that the chemtrails are as bad here as they are anywhere, both in Mallorca and in Barcelona."

     "Add Sweden to the list," a Swedish resident wrote after spotting eight to 10 parallel contrails. "I know the commercial routes, and we have a bunch of them, but not where these trails were."

     Chemtrail activity has been reported in at least 14 allied nations including Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden and the United States.

     Chemtrail photos from France, Australia, Scotland and Germany may be viewed on the author's website [www3.bc.sympatico.ca/Willthomas].


Another Scary Scenario
According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Co., the only way to form artificial clouds in warm dry air is to introduce enough particulates into the atmosphere to attract and accrete all available moisture into visible vapor. If repeated often enough, the resulting rainless haze can lead to drought.

     Patrick Minnis, an atmospheric researcher with California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) and ardent chemtrails critic at NASA's Langley Research Center, reports that cirrus cloud cover over the US is up 5 percent overall because particulates in engine exhaust are acting as cloud-forming nuclei. As the number of flights currently exceeds 15 million annually worldwide, artificial clouds will intensify as air travel continues to climb.

     Perhaps the appearance of chemtrails is a "sign from on high" that our atmosphere has become dangerously burdened with pollutants.

Copyright Earth Island Journal

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1. Normal contrails dissipate less than one minute after formation. Many long-lingering "chemtrails" being reported across North America are being made at altitudes between 10,000 and 15,000 feet - well below the stratosphere where ice-crystal cloud condensation forms. Indeed, commercial aircraft entering spray zones often emit no contrails alongside "chemtrail" spraying aircraft. At higher altitudes and around airports, commercial jets have also been seen to leave pencil-thin contrails that quickly dissipate alongside fatter, billowing "chemtrails" that linger and spread out at the same altitude for hours.

2. Commercial aircraft do not cross each other's flight paths in Xs and grid-patterns at the same altitude. Concerned with making efficient point A to point B passages, airliners also do not fly back-and-forth in formation across the same patch of clear sky, laying long-lasting chemtrails for hours at a time.

3. Commercial aircraft prominently display their airline logo, "colors" and registration numbers. While configured after commercial aircraft, observed KC-135 and KC-10 spray aircraft are usually painted white and carry no identification markings.

4. Normal contrails come from the engines and wingtips of high-flying aircraft. They do not stream from the tails of airplanes equipped with wing-mounted engines. Chemtrails, on the other hand, have been observed through high-power telescopes and binoculars to be streaming from tanker tailbooms pointing downward at a 60-degree angle - the normal configuration for deployed refueling tailbooms. Chemtrails have also been observed streaming in thick white streams inboard of the wingtips but outboard of wing-mounted jet engines, where aerial tanker refueling probes are also deployed.

4. Contrails do not make people sick. Hundreds of eye-witnesses have become ill within hours of watching chemtrails woven over their heads. Many have tasted and smelled something metallic or corrosive in the air. Check the dates and locations of peak hospital admissions alongside sightings of heavy "spray days". They match.

5. Contrails do no rain cobweb-like material and jello-like "goo" over porches, power lines and police cruisers. Most likely caused by misadjusted or malfunctioning spray nozzles, this material has been tentatively identified by a microbiologist as a "bio-matrix" for hosting and dispersing pathogens. Uncontaminated, fully-documented samples of this aerial fallout are being analyzed now. Previous (though inconclusive) samples tested in Washington state, Ohio and Wyoming have revealed the presence of highly toxic ethylene dibromide (a component of JP8 jet fuel) and Pseudomonas Flourescens (a genetically modified bacteria that is extremely antibiotic resistant). Among other severe symptoms, both of these agents cause severe upper respiratory distress.

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