One cannot live an internet-connected life today without eventually being exposed to the

notion of chemtrails, a conspiracy theorist's interpretation of common airplane contrails,

that they believe are caused by the government spraying toxic chemicals onto the population.

Have airlines all been roped into an evil conspiracy to drug the population to keep us all

docile? We're going to find out, right now, unskeptoid.

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You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

Chemtrails, death from the heavens. Today we're going to put on our men in black suits by a plane

ticket and spray the world with mysterious chemicals as part of an evil government conspiracy.

For today's subject is chemtrails. Wow, where to begin? I read a fair amount of skeptical,

paranormal, and conspiracy websites, but I don't recall ever reading so much

vituperation, anger, and name calling as when I read a few forums discussing chemtrails.

If you're not familiar with the term, chemtrails are what some conspiracy theorists call

aircraft condensation trails. Most of them don't believe that conventional

contrails exist and that when you see one, you're actually seeing a trail of mysterious airborne

chemicals sprayed from the aircraft. Those who do concede the existence of contrails often claim

subtle differences in appearance or behavior between a condensation trail and a chemical trail.

First, let's discuss exactly what a contrail is. A condensation trail also called a vapor trail

...