It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a…government-controlled chemical agent used to manipulate the weather?
While the origin story of contrails is rooted in science, there are still those who believe that the white streaks left in the sky are part of a nefarious scheme plotted by the powers that be.
That was the predicament of one Redditor, who sought advice from the r/aviation community on how to convince their misguided friend that contrails were nothing more than water vapor.
"What is the best way to explain to a 'Chemtrail' conspiracy theorist what those trails in the sky actually are?" they asked, adding that their American friend sent them pictures of airplanes "spraying" stuff as they fly.
"I know that isn't true and the trails work in a similar way to clouds," they continued. "I am just wondering what is the best and most simple way of explaining it to this person."
The top-rated comment explained the concept of contrails succinctly: "Same principle of seeing your breath on a cold day."
A fact sheet composed by the EPA, FAA, NASA, and NOAA supports this statement, as the altitude at which planes cruise is high enough for the water vapor produced by their engines to condense and freeze, forming contrails. And if the humidity is high enough, they can linger for hours.
Granted, a report found that contrails are responsible for 57% of the aviation industry's contributions to the planet's overheating, making it more harmful to the environment than its carbon dioxide emissions.
Nonetheless, the human-made clouds are simply a byproduct of flying high in the sky and not a secret experiment or operation conducted by the government.
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The false conspiracy behind "chemtrails" has existed for a while, but it has gained traction alongside catchy phrases such as "cloud seeding" after the recent wave of hurricanes that battered the United States.
Weather modification is a real practice, but the technology required to meaningfully control storms and other extreme weather events simply does not exist.
"I've always wondered, if this conspiracy theory were true, why would they always do it in daylight? Seems like night would offer a good chance to do it in secret," one person said.
"The thing about conspiracy theorists is that if they were willing to accept logic, science or factual explanations, they would not be conspiracy theorists in the first place. There is little point to trying to convince one otherwise," another user commented.
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