Fact check: Images of Angela Merkel touring plane in 2014 near Berlin is not proof of ‘chemtrails’ conspiracy theory

Posts on social media claim to show proof that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is implicated in a secret “chemtrails” programme – a conspiracy theory whose adherents believe government figures are secretly dropping toxic chemicals from planes to harm citizens.

The images show Merkel and others standing among ballast barrels while touring an A350-900 aircraft during the ILA Berlin Air Show in 2014.

The images have captions such as “They are spraying us” and “Chemtrails, still think its B.S.?” suggesting that these images are proof of the conspiracy theory:  here and here .

As the Reuters Fact Check team previously explained here , the long-debunked “chemtrails” conspiracy theory alleges that “governments or other parties are engaged in a secret program to add toxic chemicals to the atmosphere from aircraft in a way that forms visible plumes in the sky” (here).

The photos in question show the chancellor and others, including then-CEO of Airbus Fabrice Bregier and Turkey’s Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister at the time, Lutfi Elvan, during the ceremony opening the ILA Berlin Air Show in Selchow near Schoenefeld south of Berlin May 20, 2014. The German government shared the images here on its official website.

Reuters images taken of Merkel that day can be found here , here and here . 

The containers shown inside the plane are not full of toxic chemicals, as the chemtrails posts suggest, but rather ballast barrels which, as reported by Wired  here , are tanks filled with water that are used to simulate the weight of cargo or passengers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NASA have explained here that “condensation trails” or “contrails” are composed primarily of water in the shape of ice particles and “do not pose health risks to humans.” Contrails might, however, contribute to “human-induced climate change.” Further reading on this is available  here .

VERDICT

False. These images of Angela Merkel touring an Airbus A350-900 aircraft during the 2014 ILA Berlin Air Show are not proof of the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, for which there is no legitimate evidence.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here . 

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Reuters can be found here ***