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Question for written answer E-002906/2012
to the Commission
Rule 117
Oreste Rossi (EFD)

According to an Italian blogger, from 1996 until now, there has been an increase in chemical trails, also known as chemtrails, which many people know nothing about. These trails, unlike condensation trails, do not dissipate quickly into the atmosphere. In addition, there is proof which confirms the presence of there being harmful chemical elements in the trails. Some researchers have studied the composition and effects of this phenomenon, which may to us seem harmless and commonplace. According to these experts, chemical trails are the result of experimental operations which have manifold purposes. The main objectives, albeit unproven, range from the meteorological to the military. The analyses carried out have verified the presence of the following elements in the chemtrails: barium, aluminium, radioactive thorium and caesium, copper, titanium, silicon, lithium, cobalt, lead, ethylene dibromide and several pathogenic agents.

Chemical trails can cause a condition called Morgellons syndrome. It is a disease which causes serious deterioration in the body. As well as this disease, chemtrails are associated with other illnesses such as tumours, Parkinson's disease and cardiac dysfunction.

Given that the effects on human health caused by the chemical trails described in the blog seem to be very serious, can the Commission state if it is aware of the effects of chemical trails and what the European Union's position is as regards the objectives that are being pursued and giving rise to this phenomenon?

OJ C 240 E, 21/08/2013

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Parliamentary question | Chemical trails harmful to health | E-002906/2012 | European Parliament

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Question for written answer E-002906/2012 to the Commission Rule 117 Oreste Rossi (EFD)

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What Happened to Chemtrails? | Skeptical Inquirer

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The chemtrails conspiracy theory holds that the long white lines you sometimes see forming and spreading out behind aircraft are actually a secret form of g…

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The main idea of the conspiracy of chem trails is that there are certain airplanes in the sky that release chemicals into the air to control people and the weather, and the trail that they leave behind is chemicals. The theory isn’t that incredibly hard to believe, as it is very similar to contrails, and you can look up at the sky and see that the airplanes are leaving something behind in the air that sticks around, however what is hard to believe is the fact that these trails are having some kind of effect on the health of people and living organisms. The overall belief has been going on for a couple of decades, however due to the recent rise in popularity of the spread of information online, this conspiracy has gained traction in the last ten years more, causing more and more people to believe this theory.

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We receive many emails and letters asking me about chemtrails. Many express deep concern, some are abusive and threatening. This page gives our views on the topic. Background Chemtrails refers to the theory that governments or other parties are engaged in a secret program to add toxic chemicals to…

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Those white lines in the sky trailing behind jet planes are puffy plumes of water vapour. But online, some have twisted them into evidence of a secret plot to control weather or poison the environment. Why are wild theories about contrails and other phenomena so persistent on social media?

Suzanne Maher doesn't like the term "conspiracy theory".

When I use it - on a phone call to arrange an interview - she tells me that it was invented by the CIA to discredit those who question the government.

But as the founder of Bye Bye Blue Sky - a group established to raise awareness of so-called "chemtrails" and what she claims is a massive, secret government conspiracy to control the weather - it's one the Canadian is used to hearing.

"I ask that we move beyond the notion that this is a conspiracy theory," she says. "Twenty to thirty years ago we never saw these trails. We had a beautiful blue sky."

More on online conspiracy theories

Suzanne is among a significant number of people using social media to spread this message.

"Chemtrail" conspiracy theorists vary in their claims. But some of the most popular include the belief that governments control the weather on a massive scale, that scientists carrying out legitimate research about how to counteract climate change through a process called geo-engineering are secretly poisoning us, or even that secret powerful groups are spraying us with chemicals to make us pliant and easy to control.

The trails she's talking about are those you'll have seen yourself - plumes of white that form behind aircraft. They are simply water vapour released from aircraft engines that condenses into ice crystals if the atmospheric conditions are right. Suzanne Maher isn't correct when she says they're a new phenomenon: you can see condensation trails left behind aircraft in images from the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.

But what most people call "contrails" Suzanne and other conspiracy theorists call "chemtrails" - and in them they see evidence of a clandestine globalist conspiracy involving a pick-and-mix selection of the UN, the military, national governments, the Rothschilds, climate scientists, pilots and big business.

Her beliefs don't exactly come from nowhere.

Weather modification - or at least attempting it - has a long history. The Leningrad Institute of Rainmaking was established in the Soviet Union in 1932. Chinese authorities used cloud seeding to ensure the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics wasn't washed out.

Geo-engineering - deliberate intervention in the Earth's natural systems to counteract climate change - is a newer field of research. While scientists have talked about it, there's been very little being physically done - most of the research in the field relies on computer modelling.

Professor David Keith of Harvard University, is among the most prominent scientists calling for further research. He told the New York Times he knows of only two instances where one of the most controversial proposals has been tested in the field. It's called solar geo-engineering and involves atmospheric aerosol injection of tiny reflective particles to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the earth and thus cool the planet.

Similarly, successful weather modification efforts have been localised - and certainly not on the grand scale some conspiracy theorists claim.

Nonetheless, "chemtrail" and geo-engineering conspiracy theorists flood social media with speculation, questions and images of contrail cross-hatched skies. One international survey suggested almost 17% of respondents thought chemtrail conspiracy theories true or partly true.

Suzanne says she first became aware of the subject six years ago.

"I was actually on a website. It was a very young girl, she wasn't even ten years old. She talked about the spraying going on in our skies and the fact she was so sad because she didn't want to go outside and the skies were no longer blue and we were being sprayed. Why would such a young child be sharing this information if it wasn't truthful?

"Her words disturbed me and intrigued me so I began looking into this topic and doing extensive research. This awakening truly changed my life," she says.

That research led Suzanne to create Bye Bye Blue Sky. She runs a closed group on Facebook, where around 5,000 fellow believers can discuss the theory, as well as raising money to buy billboard advertising. She closely vets the group's members.

"We don't debate that it's happening in this group," she says. "We all realise that it is happening."

'Information bubbles'

Closed groups of like-minded people - the type common on social media and the internet - are one of the big reasons why conspiracy theories solidify online. Professor Karen Douglas, from the University of Kent, researches the psychology of conspiracy theories.

"People tend to share information but also consume information that's consistent with what they already believe," she says.

"People end up living in these information bubbles, or echo chambers, where they share ideas with other people who believe what they believe. And they read information which confirms what they believe.

"Information doesn't necessarily spread indiscriminately the way people think it does on the internet and social media. People tend to share it with people who kind of think the same way as they do about these issues in the first place," she says.

'I taste and smell it'

Russ Tanner runs what he claims is the largest "chemtrails" group on Facebook - Chemtrails Global Skywatch - which has more than 114,000 members. He calls so-called chemtrails "the largest crime against humanity in history".

In a post typical of the paranoia among conspiracy theorists, one of the memes he's posted in his group asks if chemtrails are "the modern implementation of eugenics and forced depopulation".

At his request, I contact Russ at 8am in the UK - 3am in Maine, where he lives.

"The main reason I wanted to do the interview at night is in our area we have an enormous amount of aerosol injection that takes place through the evening," he tells me.

"I can't sleep when the air is that concentrated with this fallout. It causes me physical symptoms. I taste and smell it. It burns my sinuses, causes inflammation, rises in blood pressure, stomach issues and headaches."

Both Russ and Suzanne claim to have conducted their own scientific tests. Suzanne says she even tested her dog.

"I had my soil tested. I had my hair tested," she says. "I was toxic in aluminium, barium, strontium, arsenic, manganese. And I live very healthily." She says her dog has been poisoned by a radioactive metal.

Russ claims he found six times the safe levels of aluminium in his rainwater, and both say the tests are solid proof of atmospheric spraying.

It's not known what's behind those test results - and they couldn't be independently verified. Scientists, of course, disagree that there is any large-scale plot by governments to spread chemicals around the globe.

A 2016 study by the Carnegie Institute for Science and the University of California Irvine surveyed 77 leading atmospheric scientists and geochemists. All but one, 98.7%, reported no evidence of a secret large-scale atmospheric spraying programme. The one scientist who dissented recorded unusually high levels of atmospheric barium in a remote area with low levels of barium in the soil. But to get from that one result to the idea that we're being secretly sprayed with chemicals requires a monumental leap of faith.

"Our goal is not to sway those already convinced that there is a secret, large-scale spraying programme - who often reject counter evidence as further proof of their theories - but rather to establish a source of objective science that can inform public discourse," the study's authors wrote.

The conspiracy theorists won't be swayed.

"We have a long history in all countries of scientists believing things that we later realise are false," Russ contends. "It takes a very rare and brave person who steps out and goes against the flow.

"Whether or not people listen, that's up to them. But as for me - this is happening."

The news of Russia's birth rate dropping by 10.6 per cent in 2017 to reach its lowest level in 10 years, despite government measures to boost fertility rate has prompted debate online. READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

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'Chemtrail' conspiracy theorists: The people who think governments control the weather

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Those white lines in the sky trailing behind jet planes are puffy plumes of water vapour. But online, some have twisted them into evidence of a secret plot to control weather or poison the environment. Why are wild theories about contrails and other phenomena so persistent on social media?

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The Mysterious Sky Phenomena: Unlocking The Secrets Of Chemtrails

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The main idea that goes against this theory is the lack of research we have to accomplish something like this. Scientists have not found out many ways to control the weather or people, and even though there have been localized tests of weather control, they have been fairly ineffective and have been on a small scale. The side that doesn’t support this theory also argues that it would be incredibly hard to have such a large plan going on such a large scale, which is similar to many other global conspiracy theories. To have multiple governments with thousands of people all around the world keeping the secret of spreading chemicals would be close to impossible, and all of this is without mentioning that hundreds of countries around the globe would have to have had the research for this and the money to fund such activities.

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I personally believe that chemtrails are not real. Although it’s not the most unbelievable theory there is out there, there are too many differing opinions that sometimes contradict themselves, leading there to not be one really strong argument that can seriously pull in someone that does not see that stuff all that often. I feel that for a lot of people the message that chemtrails spread would make sense for people that don’t completely have their opinions open, however I think that the message cannot stand on its own due to the complexity of it. So many people in so many different places would have to be keeping so many secrets that it just doesn’t make sense at all. An argument is that there are difference in how chemtrails and contrails look different, however there’s simply not enough factual evidence that these aren’t all the exact same thing. Although there are a lot of sources that support it, the ones that debunk it are pretty overwhelming in my opinion and it’s hard to ignore those facts that are most of time backed up by truths.

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Source one and source two both support the conspiracy theory of chemtrails, however they differ in what they believe the purpose of chemtrails is and what the overall effects are. These two difference sources go to show how one conspiracy theory can have very different reasonings, and how even though most conspiracy theorists are closed in, they’re perspectives can be different on the same thing. These two sources are similar in that they both believe that chemtrails result in health issues for people and that they are spread through funding or support by the government, however in what they differ is in what they believe the purpose is. Although they both believe that chemtrails are used to control the weather, source one strongly suggests that chemtrails are used for a varying amount of reason, including controlling people, while source two views that controlling the weather is one of the few sole reasons to chemtrails, and the effect it has on agriculture and people is simply a side effect of that reason.

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The word "chemtrails" has trended on sunny mornings this summer - but what's the truth behind the conspiracy theory?

Look up at a clear blue sky and you might see puffy white trails behind aeroplanes.

They are made up mostly of water and are called contrails or vapour trails, but a growing number of people falsely believe they are evidence of something sinister going on.

Some think malign forces are spraying the population with dangerous chemicals - so-called chemtrails - for purposes that are neither entirely clear nor consistent.

A surge in conspiratorial thinking following the Covid pandemic along with the summer travel season and clear skies mean the once obscure chemtrails theory is now being promoted by major influencers.

What are contrails?

Contrails are formed when water vapour and fine soot particulates from burning jet fuel freeze into ice crystals. In low air humidity, the crystals just dissipate. In higher humidity, they persist, and end up creating visible vapour trails over large areas of sky.

Those humidity differences explain why some aircraft are seen producing vapour trails while others do not.

High humidity means that vapour trails can last for long periods and become thin layers of cirrus clouds, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern told the BBC. Cirrus clouds are short, detached and hair-like and are found at high altitudes. It is unlikely that any of these purported chemicals in the clouds would even reach ground level because they are at such high altitudes, he said.

One persistent belief among followers of the theory is that early morning chemtrails encourage greater cloud cover later in the day - but this can be explained by the natural process of convection. This is the result of the sun warming the ground, causing warm air to rise and condense into clouds later in the day, the Met Office says.

The idea that governments or shadowy forces are routinely spraying the planet with chemicals from scheduled passenger flights took hold in the 1990s.

Initially, believers claimed sprays containing a toxic metal, barium, were being used to either pacify or reduce populations.

But the idea evolved along the way, meaning today there are several strands of the chemtrail theory.

In recent years, followers have expanded their accusations, claiming the contrails are being used to spread Covid-19, distribute vaccines, initiate "mind control", reduce the population or vaguely promote a "new world order".

False allegations have trended so frequently this year that fact-checking charity Full Fact has posted 10 debunks since April.

Chemtrail influencers are highly active on platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, where they discuss the day's alleged "spraying" and track aircraft. Some suggest putting a bowl of white vinegar outside, saying that this clears "chemtrailed" skies.

Chemtrail social media groups also often contain anti-vaccine posts and promote climate change denialism, feeding off an increase in conspiracy thinking during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy theory during the Trump presidency.

The phenomenon is international, with followers across UK, Europe, Australia and the Americas - in fact, anywhere under which commercial or military aircraft fly. And it is backed by a few celebrities and popular social media influencers.

What's the truth?

Like many persistent conspiracies, the chemtrails idea comes with a kernel of truth.

In the 1950s and 1960s, decades before the conspiracy theories were born, much of Britain was sprayed with airborne chemicals in a series of secret germ warfare tests. And in 1950, San Francisco was sprayed with a chemical agent from a ship to gauge the effects of a bioweapon attack on a populated area.

Chemtrails conspiracy theorists point to such secret experiments to bolster their cause. But their claims blow the historical record out of all proportion, as they claim we are constantly - and very visibly - being deliberately sprayed with tonnes of dangerous chemicals, for an ever-shifting variety of reasons.

Like other conspiracy theorists, chemtrail enthusiasts also latch on to news events to push their agenda, for instance in messages like this posted during the recent UK heatwave:

There is no evidence the claim in the tweet is true, nor does it explain the record temperatures across Europe at the same time.

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) told the BBC it is aware of these chemtrail theories with "no evidential basis".

"The distraction of these false theories detracts from what really matters and from areas that we believe should be further studied," it added.

There is concern that high altitude jets contribute to long-term climate change - not through any deliberate release of secret chemicals, but instead through contrails in a mechanism known as "radiative forcing".

BALPA told the BBC it is campaigning for a comprehensive research trial into the effect aviation has on pollution, not CO2, as well as the impact contrails are having on a changing climate.

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Chemtrails: What's the truth behind the conspiracy theory?

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The word "chemtrails" has trended on sunny mornings this summer - but what's the truth behind the conspiracy theory? Look up at a clear blue sky and you might see puffy white trails behind aeroplanes. They are made up mostly of water and are called contrails or vapour trails, but a growing number of people falsely believe they are evidence of something sinister going on.

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A couple of the sources that are in support of the conspiracy theory support the idea of multiple perspectives, however they more heavily promote the perspective of the theory being true. The idea of chemtrails can stand on its own as it is just an idea that the trails in the sky that come from airplanes are used to spread chemicals, however many believe that not all of those trails spread chemicals. Many believe that there are specific airplanes that spread chemicals, and others simply have contrails. Due to the popularity of this conspiracy theory, validating this information from other places on the internet is not that hard to do, however the biggest issue with this conspiracy is the difference in beliefs across sources. Many chemtrails theorists believe that the chemtrails only control the weather or agriculture, however theorists go as far to believe that chemtrails spread things such as covid 19 and affect your daily life. The age of this theory makes it incredibly hard to trace this back to one specific author or source, however the conspiracy theory goes back to the 1990s when people.