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September 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/09/2010 11:00 PM Page 28 28 Americans not poisoned by 'chemtrails' Americans not poisoned by 'chemtrails' Phil Elmore Look to the sky on a sunny day. There's a good chance you'll see something that looks out of place in nature. If nature abhors the straight line, the contrail that sometimes appears behind a jet aircraft is anything but a natural cloud. A contrail is, according to the Free Online Dictionary, "A visible trail of streaks of condensed water vapor or ice crystals sometimes forming in the wake of an aircraft." It is, in other words, harmless; it's what happens when the laws of physics hold sway over the actions and constructs of humanity. Sadly, a disturbingly large group of people who otherwise seem to be reasoning, functioning adults believe that contrails in the sky are really chemtrails – an insidious government plot to control or otherwise experiment on an unknowing populace. Except that this isn't true. The idea that chemtrails menace us from the skies isn't just absurd. There's simply no real evidence for it. The "proof" that is presented for the existence of chemtrails can easily be repeatedly as examples of government those chemicals for everything from mass debunked or dismissed. There are few if any malfeasance. The Tuskegee Experiment, the government mind control to arguably imaginary exceptions. infamous human radiation experiments in "diseases" like Morgellons. In so doing, they Take this posting, for example, from a Rochester, N.Y., these are burned into commit and further a disservice to all of their survivalist blog whose author I follow on Americans' collective memory. It is incidents fellow citizens. What they are doing is vilifying Twitter. The post is presented as video "proof" like these that fill an ever-growing list of technology for no reason. They condemn an of the spraying of chemicals in the atmosphere. government misdeeds. But does Ashland, Ore., undefined technology in the name of an ill- The author writes, really belong on that list? Are chemtrails truly defined fear, producing an unwarranted unease. A pilot shoots a chemical plane from his the threat their believers wish you to accept? It must be truly exhausting to be a cockpit: the video shows an aircraft that spread Obviously, they are not, but a conspiracy theorist. Believers in these chemtrails over Canada from the nozzles. The conspiracy's true believers always conform to nonsensical myths must spend every day in a footage is the irrefutable proof of a chemical certain patterns of behavior. They incorrectly flop-sweating state of stark terror, convinced and clandestine operation that a bold pilot attribute to a conspiracy perfectly natural or that everything around them is dangerous and offers to the public in order to demonstrate that benign phenomena that have mundane everything beyond their control is a coordinated chemtrails are real. The "smoke" we can see is explanations. They cherry pick data that campaign to harm them. The consumer products neither a fuel dumping nor a contrail. The "proves" their theories while selectively in their homes are all contaminated. The water chemtrails, in fact, is iridescent too. Don't listen ignoring information that refutes those ideas. coming from their pipes is laced with Nazi-era to hoaxers who repeat that this document is They claim that any information not available to mind-control industrial waste toxins. The skies false or similar lies. support their assertions has been "suppressed," above them are filled with black helicopters – The problem, of course, is that the video while any information proving them wrong is and above those helicopters, jet aircraft spray is a hoax – or rather, it isn't the proof it has been misinformation promulgated by the malevolent biochemical warfare agents among the clouds, touted to be, nor was it ever such evidence. It entities they blame for furthering the conspiracy to some vaguely evil end that can spell nothing took only a few seconds of searching to find an itself. In so doing, they build a framework from but certain doom. explanation for the original piece: which they can shout their ridiculous ideas to There is no chemtrail threat. Isolated [The video] very clearly shows the benighted masses. abuses of power are not an organized, secret aerodynamic contrails coming from the wings of When those ideas are not well-received, campaign to spray you with poison or germs. If a KC-10. The pilots on the cockpit are heard the true believers demand that nonbelievers you believe otherwise, you have some serious joking about it being "chemtrails." [The "wake up," presumably because failure to growing up to do. [] conspiracy theorist who reposted the video as embrace the conspiracy is an act of apathy or proof of chemtrails], not being a native English laziness. If sufficiently prodded, they will begin speaker, misses this and thinks they are being angrily accusing skeptics and critics alike of serious. He then goes on to "analyze" the video, being paid off or otherwise taking part in the and points to the flap mechanisms as being vast conspiracy in question. nozzels [sic]. This childish behavior has one purpose. The site Contrail Science, in fact, It insulates the conspiracy theorist from what is contains a wealth of calmly, methodically true. It prevents him from acknowledging presented material thoroughly debunking reality. This delusional architecture, in fact, sets chemtrail mythology. I have to admit that I was up a belief system that is almost completely disappointed, when I set out to write a column impervious to logic, reason and common sense. on the topic, to discover that the work had Believers in the conspiracy, in this case already been done. the chemtrail menace, so ardently, firmly and While isolated cases of government stubbornly believe in their misguided ideas that abuse of power – including chemical they refuse to change their minds even in the experimentation on unwitting citizens – most face of overwhelming information to the certainly do exist, they are the exceptions. They contrary. They go on seeing airplanes spraying are such exceptions, in fact, that they are cited "chemicals" despite the truth, and they blame