Chemtrail

Picture of a contrail in a book from 1967

Contrails during WWII

Contrails during WWII

Picture from WWII

Chemtrail, according to a common conspiracy theory, is the name for certain types of contrails. This pseudo-scientific idea believes that at least part of the known contrails consist of various added substances, on whose composition, however, followers of this idea apparently cannot agree. Modified contrails allegedly show a different behaviour from regular ones. They are said to remain visible in the sky for a longer time, and to appear in a checkerboard pattern sometimes. There is no consensus among followers of the chemtrail idea regarding which airplanes spread the additives. Some believe chemtrails were caused by various different types of planes, while others believe only certain military aircraft were responsible. An extended version of this theory claims that chemtrails are able to dissolve carbon-dioxide, resulting in a local decrease in temperature due to the diminished greenhouse effect. This creates a huge depression that sucks in surrounding air, causes thunderstorms, intense rain, storms, and hail.

The History of the Word Chemtrail

G. Stetter

Clifford Carnicom

William Thomas

Jim Phelps

The term chemtrail was coined in the US about 1998. Initially, until about 2000, the term "cloverleaf" was in more frequent use. Barium and aluminum were introduced into the debate around 2001. Clifford Carnicom from Santa Fe/New Mexico and Canadian William Thomas from Duncan (British Columbia) are often credited as creators of the chemtrail hypothesis. They are in fact the only ones who left behind well dated material. Carnicom's records begin in the summer of 1999, with the double title Contrail/Chemtrail. Carnicom latterly presents himself on a website called CACTUS (Citizens Against Chemtrails U.S.) According to Carnicum, barium was radioactive which adds another pseudo-scientific note to his conspiracy theories. Journalist William Thomas first wrote about the issue in January 1999 (article in Environment News Service - ENS), but still used the term contrails.

There are further historic documents, too, for example the well known radio talk show with Art Bell from 1999. While the first report only mentions (poisonous) contrails, the second one marks the birth of the term chemtrails' only one month later, albeit it is still set in quotation marks. The book "Chemtrails over America" by William Thomas was released shortly afterwards.

Another (self-proclaimed) inventor of this term is Jim Phelps. Here a quote which provides some insight into Mr. Phelps' mind:These truths revealed on the use of Chemtrails will show that the US Govt. has long known the truth on what causes the AIDS epidemic. Chemtrails use a truncated version of the Manna effect. And AIDS is the direct result of too much fluoride in the environment that is upsetting the beneficial trace metals in the human cells and immune system. This leads to a lower level of metals, like manganese, that block the reverse transcription of HIV. This is a very important concept from the End-Times predictions of huge health plagues sweeping the planet and all very predictable from the old biblical times for those that knew the mining industries.

The abstruse conspiracy theory

Rear of a test plane for simulating icing

The same plane in action

Supporters of the 1990ies chemtrail hypothesis believe certain substances - which are not described in detail - were mixed with the jet fuel in order to create an effect on the global climate, especially the greenhouse effect. Other conspiracy theorists believe it is part of a world wide program to reduce the global population, or for birth or even mind control. Behind these programs were, according to the chemtrail groups, the Freemasons, the Illuminati or a Jewish conspiracy. There are often ties to extremist right groups, "brown esotericism" and supporters of cloudbuster, colloidal silver and zappers according to Hulda Clark. Typical supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis are Georg Ritschl, Werner Altnickel, Peter Platte, Helmut Gobsch, Heinz Gerhard Vogelsang, Don Croft and Rosalie Bertell. In Germany, extreme right political party NPD started an inquiry of chemtrails in the parliament of the federal state of Saxony. The issue of chemtrails is often used as a catch in the right wing scene.

Fallacious and unsupported assumptions are often promoted in the esoteric Swiss publication "Zeitenschrift", in "Neue Impulse Treff" network associated with Scientology, and by the esoteric-libertarian association "live Net Concept 2010". A popular photographic "proof" of alleged chemtrail operations can be seen in the picture on the right: A modified Boeing NKC-135A Stratotanker (717-100) with the number 17244, stationed at Edwards AFB in California. It sprays water to test the flight quality of planes under icing conditions. Tests are done on various kinds of planes, such as fighter jets or a Embraer EMB-120RT. That plane has been decommissioned meanwhile.

Chemtrail supporters frequently claim that so called low budget airlines, like Irish Ryanair, are only able to offer flights at such low prices because their main job kept secret was the creation of chemtrails.

Contrails and cloud formation

Photo of clouds before 1905

Meteorological conditions for the creation of contrails

Contrails (also called Ice-SuperSaturated Regions(ISSR)) are visible clouds of liquid (condensed) or frozen water droplets which form when hot exhaust streams of airplanes meet cold air under certain circumstances. Decompression causes cooling and condensation, as can be seen when a bottle of sparkling wine is opened. "Fog" appears above the liquid. The same process plays a major role in the creation of clouds and rain in the atmosphere.

Some forms of clouds caused by planes appear without the interference of any exhaust gasses, for example winglet-contrails which can be observed by flight passengers at the wing tips of planes under certain conditions, even at low altitudes. Typical turbofan exhaust temperatures are at 600 K approximately.

The formation of contrails can be explained physically: Generally water gets visible in the air when relative humidity (number of water droplets in relation to temperature of the air) exceeds 100%. The warmer the air is, the more water vapour it can hold. Modern planes travel at high altitudes where temperatures are very cold. Cold air can only hold small amounts of water. Water is created chemically when jet fuel is burnt, and exits the engines as an invisible gas. The surrounding cold air rapidly cools down the hot exhaust gas, and after a few metres (depending on temperature and humidity) causes the water to crystallize, forming the contrail. The contrail remains visible until water crystals are dispersed to the point where humidity drops below 100%. In a high pressure area with low humidity this happens rather fast, and no contrail at all forms when temperatures are high enough in the summer, like it is often the case in southern Europe for example. In the Arctic and Antarctic, however, contrails can sometimes form even at ground level.

At certain weather conditions contrails can expand, remain visible for hours, or gather more clouds to the point where it starts to rain. Supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis then claim the plane made the bad weather. In reality it is exactly the other way around. Persistent contrails indicate upcoming bad weather, because low pressure areas typically come with high humidity, and the additional water (water vapour from the exhaust gas) is more than the air can absorb, and thus it will remain visible as fog or clouds. Sometimes chemtrail supporters ask why the "spraying" has stopped. A quick look at the weather map helps: Usually there is a stable high pressure area with low humidity. Then, as soon as a low pressure area approaches, the chemtrail reports will come in again. Generally contrails appear at temperatures below -35°C, depending on altitude and humidity.

• Short contrails form at an altitude of about 10kms, if temperatures of the tropopause (10-15 km) are about -50°C with a humidity below 70%. Ice crystals form, but sublimate after a few seconds and become invisible.
• Persistent contrails which may expand and even lead to the formation of artificial cirrus clouds will form when the tropopause reaches a humidity of between 80-100%.
• No contrails at all even at high altitudes when temperatures close to the ground increase to 25°C or above in summer, and temperatures of the lower tropopause (10-12 km) reach -40°C and below, with a humidity below 30%. This is what happens in chemtrail free southern Europe in summer. Below a humidity of 25% at 10 kms altitude, no ice crystals will form.

During daytime, contrails will cover about 0.7% of the sky over Europe during the course of the year, at night (when contrails have an insulating effect) they will cover about 0.25%. On average they will cover about 0.5% of the sky.

When a plane flies through the not always straight and level (but wavy) border between warmer and colder air, it may appear as if contrails are turned off or on suddenly, even repeatedly in case of turbulences. Air warms quicker over large dark (tarmac) surfaces than over wet meadows, and begins to rise, forming bubbles or "chimneys" of warm air. Different thermal phenomena can exist next to each other. This results in the typical hops and bumps pilots of small airplanes experience. When contrails persist long enough, their form will get changed by winds and turbulences - just like regular clouds. Different colours are the result of refraction and reflection of sunlight. Chemtrail believers' sites display these aspects as unnatural and evidence of chemicals. But they can actually be explained naturally, and in consistence with our knowledge of meteorology and physics, requiring no additional hypotheses or conspiracy theories.

Such pictures of clouds which, according to supporters of the chemtrail hypothesis, are evidence of sprayed chemicals, are photographically documented since well before the first powered flight of the Wright brothers, for example in the 1905 book Clouds studies. The first actual contrails were recorded shortly after World War I, when more powerful planes reached ever higher altitudes. The first report of a contrail is based on a flight of pilot Franz Zeno Diemer at an altitude of 9,300 m over Munich in 1919.

Distrails

Inverted contrails - distrails is the name for the more rare breakup of clouds caused by airplanes. Water droplets vaporize faster in the hot exhaust gas, creating a cloud free trail. This can also be caused by mixing in dry air from above or under the the cloud layer.

Alleged chemical composition of chemtrail additives according to different sources

The following substances are said to be found in chemtrails, according to followers of the idea:

• Barium or barium compounds
• Aluminum compounds
• Titanium
• Teutonium
• radioactive thorium
• synthetic fibers of unknown composition
• Ethylene dibromide (EDB)
• Mycoplasma, Pseudomonas and allegedly existing nanobacterias
• Vaccines against anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis, and measles in aerosol form
• Pathogens, genetically modified microbes of unknown kinds

Aluminum and barium are insoluble in kerosene, but there are compounds of either element which are. However, even small traces of these are easily detected by modern analytic methods (e.g. ICP or AAS). Furthermore neither the application of aluminum nor that of barium make sense from a chemical or physiological point of view (especially regarding the desired harm). Aluminum is covered with an oxide layer, rendering it mostly inert. Barium, on the other hand, is so reactive it cannot be used here. It would react immediately and violently with humidity and oxygen (creating barium hydroxide). Barium sulfate is harmless physiologically and insoluble in water. It has no bioavailability, hence it is administered orally as radio-opaque substance for x-rays. Teutonium is not one of the known elements. Whether pathogenic germs, bacteria, spores, vaccines, etc. will remain stable under the existing conditions remains disputable.

So far none of the aforementioned substances was identified clearly in contrails or jet exhaust fumes.

Speculations by anti-vaccination activist Anita Petek-Dimmer became a source of amusement in 2005, when she proclaimed that birds' flue (caused by the H5N1 virus) was the result of ionizing radiation from chemtrails. Petek-Dimmer believed that plutonium was added to chemtrails. Furthermore she assumed: This radioactive radiation does not only dissolve animal cells, but also those of plants.

Known releases of substances in aviation

actual chemtrail

Cloud seeding equipment

Cloud seeders disperse silver iodide (with acetone) specifically into thunderstorms to prevent hail. Smoke is often used in air shows, or to study wake turbulence. Water can be used for the same purpose. As part of military operations clouds can be manipulated to create rain. Such interventions are regulated in the ENMOD provision of the United Nations. During the Vietnam war, agent orange was used to defoliate forests. In case of an emergency, planes are allowed to dump fuel. Contrary to contrails smoke trails form directly at the outlet, while contrails form somewhat behind the engines.

Chemtrail and weather radar

Chaff cloud over the Netherlands

Radar chaff

Supporters of the chemtrail conspiracy theory occasionally claim there were strange signals on the weather radars of meteorological services which seem to be ghost clouds. On July 19th 2005 e.g., the radar screens of German Weather Service (DWD) showed a small compact cloud formation at the north sea coast of the Netherlands which looked like rain. Within two hours the radar showed a 300 km long cloud strip, reaching from the East Frisian Islands down to the northern Ruhr Area. But at the same time no clouds were visible, neither from the ground nor on satellite images, nor anything that might look like a mass of contrails. In this case, as well as in similar ones, chaffs (Rapid Bloom Chaff(RBC)) had been dispersed as part of a military exercise. Chaffs are small metal threads that reflect radar waves and disturb radar. Supporters of the chemtrail idea cannot be talking about chaff. Even they do not claim a correlation between supposed chemtrail sightings and strange radar echoes.

Logical counter arguments

A world wide secret program for creating artificial contrails coordinated by the UN, like chemtrail believers proclaim, must be kept secret by a large number of adept people who at the same time break the law. This group would involve aircraft crews, manufacturers of technologies and means used, ground crews, and airport employees. Chemtrail Supporters like Platte even claim several pilots were fired for refusing participation in this hypothetical chemtrail project. However, not a single one of them has come forth as a whistle blower as of now.

To achieve a concentration of 1 mg of a specific substance per square metre, one must disperse 1 kg of that substance per square km. Europe has an area of 10.5 million square kms, requiring 10,500 tons of that substance for a single spraying event. A typical large aircraft, such as the Boeing KC-135, has a maximum load of 85 tons of fuel. Therfore 123 aircraft of this type were needed to get the job done, if every plane only flew once. The surface of the whole earth is about 510 million square kms, and 510,000 tons of material were needed for a single spraying, equaling 6,000 tankers. These figures require the use of the pure substance. If the substance had to be diluted, however, (for example 1:9) then 5,100,000 tons of the spraying solution are required, equaling 60,000 Phantom tankers. This is 3.2 times the official number of jets worldwide.

Another argument against the chemtrail hypothesis is the fact that the number of foggy days in Europe has been receding since the 1970ies until today (2009). This is based on an examination of data from 342 weather stations across Europe and was published in "Nature Geoscience" by scientists around Robert Vautard. The decrease in fog is based on advanced filtering technologies in power plants which cut back sulfur dioxide emissions. Cleaner air is clearer air. And because of that more sunlight reaches the ground.

Chemtrails in Goethe's times

If one follows the arguments of chemtrail proponents there were chemtrails already in Goethe's times. On Thursday, May 20^th, 1820 Goethe notes: Very clear sky early in the day, by and by light cirrus, around noon rare, utmost outstanding phenomena, calling me out from the narrows to a free stead. Coming from west, accompanied by resolute southerly wind, long, tender cirrus strips pulled up, solitarily as well as combined; while heading forward the front end bended to become small cloudlet, slightly further down blurred white cloudlets were moving, to be absorbed by those stripes , all kinds of other cirrus were in the blue sky, cirrocumulus, gridded stripes , everything moving and changing. By and by the sky became clouded[...] .

Chemtrail-Fakes

CT-Bomber Fake

Platte

Enlarged detail of the fake

Detail of the original picture

Dead-weight tanks being filled with water

Aircraft cemetery Pinal Airpark

There are a lot of fakes and easy to see through hoaxes circulating in connection with chemtrails.

In February 2008, chemtrail-proponent and internet message board moderator Peter Platte produced a photo of uncertain origin (supposedly from a Vietnam war veteran) showing the interior of a chemtrail bomber (The 'Vietnam veteran' refers to a Tim White, a widely used reference in chemtrail circles. This Tim White is Timothy Patrick White, born on March 5^th, 1947, a resident of Denver (Colorado). He is a fundamental Christian US patriot, well-known proponent of confused conspiracy theories who uses several pseudonyms and was sentenced for possession of narcotics and stalking).

Platte wrote in this message board: [...] this is simply a sensation. This photo is the dream of every ct-activist. We have been waiting for this for years and it looks like there are more disclosures to come. Judging from the plane's interior measures it seems to be a Boeing KC 767 of the US-Air Force, one of 200. Up to now we only knew that chemicals used for spraying were filled in containers by UN inspectors at manufacturers' sites, with containers sealed and shipped to the different operating sites afterwards. Now we also know what these containers look like and how they are connected in series and linked to the elect. system for controlling. I still can hardly believe that we now have a photo that is clear evidence of how spraying is done and how the system works. A really big 'Thank you' to the former Air Force Pilot who provided the photo. Peter [...] Other board members added: [...]That's the critter from inside. One can spot words like "SPRAYER 1" and "HAZARD INSIDE". Creepy.[...] Great picture, no doubt!!

The picture, however, was a simple fake of a copyrighted photo and can be openly found on the internet. According to her own accounts, a user of the Freigeistforum (free thinker board) called fighthamster simply added fake inscriptions to two pictures of a Boeing 777 passenger jet which, in the course of approval procedures, was equipped with measurement devices and water containers serving as dead weight. Platte, being totally uncritical and gullible, was embarrassed because he did not even notice the regular portholes that were visible in the photo. The websiteENR expanded this wild fantasy around the bogus photo even further: The dead-weight containers (in reality adapted beer casks) on the photos were, according to user united-mutations, tanks sealed by manufacturers under supervision of UN inspectors. The planes allegedly were altered to chemtrail sprayers in a secret place called Pinal Airpark(Arizona), under supervision of the CIA, and had been in use worldwide since November 1998(with the notable exception of China). Time White would be the source of this entertaining slip-slop. A so-called Ted Twietmeyer (tedtw@frontiernet.net) claimed something similar at rense.com but at least recognized the picture was a fake. Pinal Airpark (ICAO-identifier: KMZJ; IATA: MZJ) was used by the CIA during the Vietnam war and now is an aircraft cemetery (storage space for discarded planes). Most of the planes there are from Northwest Airlines.

D. Münnichs invention: Cloud pictures from 1944 claimed to show Iraq war in 2003

The Hamer follower David Münnich is another source of forged pictures. He was born 1982, lives in Saarbrücken and works as a web designer. He is to be credited that photos taken during the Ardennes Offensive in 1944 are presented as taken in Iraq war in 2003.
This demonstrates the shortcomings of arguing without giving verifiable sources.

Spreading the "Chemtrails"-conspiracy theory using statements that even a chemistry layperson can recognize as being a hoax or a fake

Another Chemtrails-proponent is right-wing esoteric conspiracy theorist Jo Conrad. In August 2010 Conrad tried to convincingly spread the theory in his "Freigeis-Forum" (free thinker board) by showing a picture of such a chemtrail aircraft (see screenshot to the right dating from August, 26^th 2010 11:20am). The picture, however, shows nothing more than "aerodynamic rainbow contrails" that can be attributed to a hoax. The picture caption names e.g. "Barium-Hypertitanit", "Terraformit" and even "Spinnoinium-Oxydul". Such phantasy substances like Spinnoinium (roughly: Crazeonium) or Terraformit do not exist and are only used to make the hoax more palpable. Also, explanations regarding measurement methods reveal another hoax: Searching for "Telegas Chromatograph" or "Telerelevator" of a company called "GCMS" only lead to other references of the hoax.
The original picture is from the year 2006 and, in contrast to the wrong caption in the hoax, shows a Virgin Atlantic Airways-Airbus A340-642 (identification: G-VBLU) over China with a "rainbow-contrail" in an altitude between 8000 and 9000 meter.

Usage of Pictures without any references in the Chemtrail Scene

Original picture of the NASA

Alleged Chemtrail airplane B747

TACAMO: Boeing E6

Alleged Chemtrail tanker KC135

Besides airy hypotheses (which are not backed by any facts) and faked or manipulated pictures, often the national- as well as international chemtrail-scene typically presents pictures showing aircrafts while spraying chemtrails, even though such pictures neither allow to correctly identify the type of aircraft nor to interpret them. The aim is to impress gullible viewers and laypersons through misinterpretations and disinformation. At the same time this is used boost sales of products like books, DVDs, seminars and lectures.

Especially reliable, verifiable references including dates are almost always missing in the scene. Two typical examples for such pictures missing references are displayed on the right side: A simple internet search reveals the source of the pictures though (left side). Usually they show aircrafts generating smoke trails for the study of air eddies or fire-fighting or other planes spraying water for studying icing of aircrafts following. There are a lot of pictures and extensive descriptions of such experiment in the internet.

Reactions to the Chemtrail hypotheses and Scientific View

Neither is there any evidence for chem trails nor are their proponents able to produce such. Also, quite a number of logical reasons contradict their possible existence. Condensation trails are a phenomena well reviewed and technical articles on this go back to the 1940s. Already the NASA-precesessor, NACA, examined this phenomena because of their military relevance for locating aircrafts in WWII. In a document from 1942 (decades before the chemtrail hypotheses) NACA-researchers named the meteorological circumstances responsible for the formation of persistent contrails. So far no evidence proving the existence of aluminum or barium in condensation trails or aircraft fuel could be given. The Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (German Air Traffic control) confirmed that no conspicuous or remarkable air activity has been observed that could be linked with the things described in „Raum & Zeit". The Deutsche Wetterdienst (German Meteorological Service) informed that their data don't show any specifics that would indicate some irregular forms of condensation trails.

Also, the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (German Federal Ministry of Defence) has no further information. The headquarters of the US-Air Force Europe informed that the projects of the US Air Force described don’t exist, neither now nor in the past. Greenpeace as well as the Umweltbundesamt (UBA, German Federal Environment Agency) regard the chemtrail-theory as dubious. The UBA even inquired the World Health Organization (WHO) about alleged risk analysis on potential consequences of chemtrails that had supposedly been conducted by the WHO. The WHO affirmed that it neither had any knowledge about chemtrails nor that it had done any studies on the subject. The phenomena described are also unknown to the Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, German Aerospace Center). Since many years, the DLR's Institute of Atmosphere Physics examines the effects of air traffic emissions on the atmosphere - including numerous measurements of gas- and particle emissions of commercial aircrafts. Neither is the German Meteorological Service able to detect anomalies in their data indicating special chemtrail-forms of condensation trails. The German federal government commented in 2004 also on chemtrails: Excerpt from an answer (reference: Deutscher Bundestag Drucksache 15/3694) of the Federal Government given to Herbert Frankenhauser (member of parliament, party: CSU): [...]Question: Are so-called chemtrails (chemical traces sprayed by aircrafts) released for researching of the reduction of global warming over the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany? Reply of the Parliamentary State Secretary Simone Probst from September, 8^th 2004: The Federal Government has no knowledge regarding aircrafts releasing so-called chemtrails in the atmosphere in Europe.

Chemtrails and Cloudbuster

Some chemtrail-proponents believe that copper tubes -arranged in so-called Cloudbusters- are able to diffuse such condensation trails. The cloudbuster-concept traces back to Wilhelm Reich. The so-called 'Chembusters are further developments going back to the American business man, esoteric and private pilot Don Croft (see also: Georg Ritschl).

Chemtrails and the Yellow Revolution of the ENR

Speech of Commandante Don

Poster in Cologne

European New Resistance is a new group that is currently forming in different cities and tries to recruit new members. It uses "Chemtrails" in a populistic manner to draw public attention to all kinds of issues they consider to be grievances. The conspiracy theory internet portals NWO-Fighter.info, infokrieg.tv and terraristen.net joined their activities. Naive esoteric campaigners from the "Motzblog" (grumble blog) and the associated internet board "Motzlabor" (grumble laboratory) are behind these activities. Interestingly, the Address of Comandante Don can also be found on the so-called Reichszeitung, a typical extreme right-wing KRR (Kommissarische Reichsregierung, Provisional Government of the German Reich) publication. In summer 2008 it gained public attention when they hired the Cologne-based outdoor advertising company Kölner Außenwerbung KAW to hang up anti-condensation trail posters.

Chemtrails, Anti-vacciners and Bird Flu

Anita Petek-Dimmer uses chemtrails in her anti-vaccination campaign in an absurd way. Quotation: The radioactive radiation effect of plutonium-enriched chemtrails spreads out to forests, meadows, farm- and grassland[...] The soil bacteria are killed by the contamination and break down partly. These bacteria are essential for regulating the water balance. This radiation results in aggradation, desertification and soil crusting. This is most probably also one of the reasons for bird flu.

According to the Berlin-based Expert and technical consultant for low-intensity radioactivity and radioactive effects Brigitte Schlabitz bird flu is not caused by a virus, but by the precipitation of "nuclear-induced cloud formations". In a lot of cases, the ailing and dying of indoor plants would also be caused by radioactive chemtrails. Additionally, "micro chips" would play a role in the effects caused by chemtrails.

Chemtrail and Politics

The NPD, a German far right party, felt compelled to issue a parliamentary inquiry in the Saxonian state assembly regarding chemtrials. Often, right-wing activists use the chemtrail-"problem" to hook uninformed (especially overstrained and afraid of life) persons and get them closer to antisemitic writings and right-wing opinions.

In January 2009 the local group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (German ecological party) in Glashütten (population 5,500) published an outrageously disinforming pamphlet on chemtrails on their web site [1]. Titled The destruction of the sky by chemtrails, it claimed that the population would be poisoned from aircrafts by barium, aluminum and Sulfur [this word is not the correct term in German and most probably the result of translating without understanding]. Neither witnesses nor any reliable evidence were given to back these outrageous, allegedly billion-costing accusations, allegedly costing billions. When asked via e-mail, the operator of the web site could also not answer the question how these alleged poison trails could be proved.

Chemtrail-courses at the VHS (adult education center) Oldenburg

VHS-course announcement in the internet

Since at least since March 2008, the solar-collector assembler Werner Altnickel was allowed to give lectures at the VHS Oldenburg on the pseudo-scientific conspiracy theory of chemtrails and the ionospheric research program HAARP for a paying audience. After paying 12 EUR, the course participants learn how HAARP allegedly acts as "ionospheric heater", "opens" ozone holes, "directs storms" and creates tsunamis and earthquakes. Altnickel is neither meteorologist nor geophysicist and therefore utters layperson speculations. Beginning of 2010 it became known that the department head of the VHS, Claudia Grove, who is responsible for administering the courses of the VHS, personally lobbied for including the absurd conspiracy theories of Altnickel in the courses offered at the VHS Oldenburg. In an e-mail addressed to a person complaining about spreading such conspiracy theories by abusing a public institution Grove said: Dear Mr. XXX, in your e-mail of January, 17^th you showed that you are an attentive reader of our course program. Of course we are really glad about this and are open to critical comments. Of course it belongs to the duties of an adult education center to inform about debatable themes. This includes information about chemtrails, the existence of which is indisputable. We were surprised, though, that you expressed such a keen critic without revealing yourself. Kind regards, Claudia Grove

Literature

• Pearson HA, Condensation trails where they occur and what can be done about them,1942, NTRS:2006-11-06, Report Number: NACA-WR-L-474. link: [2]

German Weblinks

• German version used as base for this article
• Hintergrundpapier des Umweltbundesamtes zu Chemtrails
• Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie: Welche Rolle spielen Kondensstreifen für unser Klima?*http://www.martin-wagner.org/anti-chemtrails.htm
• Sebastian Knauer: Metall am Himmel. DER SPIEGEL 1/2005 (kurzer Artikel zur Chemtrail-Verschwörungstheorie)
• Frage von M. Baumann: Gibt es die „Chemtrails“ wirklich? FOCUS, 07.12.2006
• http://chemtrails-maerchen.blogspot.com/
• http://chemtrails.bplaced.net/2008/09/sensation-wissenschaftlicher-nachweis.html
• http://www.abgeordnetenwatch.de/index.php?cmd=223&q=chemtrails

English Weblinks

• NACA-publication on persistent contrails from 1942
• http://www.skepdic.com/chemtrails.html
• http://www.lacarte.org/health/chemtrails/debunkery/
• http://contrailscience.com/contrail-or-chemtrail/
• http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-051013-001.pdf
• http://www.hans-egebo.dk/skeptic/contrails.htm
• http://www.env.leeds.ac.uk/envi1200/slides/Chapter%209.pdf on Contrail-formation
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfOrez6q7WM

Versions of this article in other languages

• Die deutsche Version dieses Artikels

References

Note: It would have been impossible to collect the information for this article without references provided by internet message board users that deal with this chemtrail-phantasm in their spare time. We want to thank them explicitely.