Post misrepresents contrail as a ‘chemtrail’ based on size | Fact check
The claim: Video shows contrail and ‘chemtrail’ next to each other
A May 10 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a blue sky with two white streaks across it. One is significantly larger than the other.
“Chemtrail vs contrail and the moon as a witness to the sickness,” reads the post’s caption.
It also includes the hashtags “#chemtrailawareness” and “#wedonotconsent.”
It was liked over 200 times in nine days.
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Our rating: False
Chemtrails do not exist. Both of the white streaks in the sky shown in the video are airplane contrails, experts told USA TODAY.
Contrails vary in size
Airplane contrails are white streaks of water vapor left in the sky from airplanes. They have been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades.
Some believe they are made up of chemicals purposefully sprayed on the public by nefarious actors, but that concept is baseless and has been repeatedly debunked.
Fact check: ‘Chemtrails’ aren’t real, aren’t related to climate change
In the Instagram video, both streaks in the sky are contrails, despite the differences in their sizes, said David Delene, an atmospheric science professor at the University of North Dakota.
Contrails are formed when aircraft exhaust turns into ice particles, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The small, short contrail is at an altitude where the relative humidity – with respect to ice – is not as high compared to the long contrail,” Delene said.
The difference in altitude and atmospheric conditions causes one contrail to be brighter than the other, he said.
The magnitude of contrails can be influenced by other factors, including the size of the aircraft and the direction of the wind, said Jamie Dyer, a meteorology professor at Mississippi State University.
“Contrails need specific environmental conditions to form and persist, and those conditions can and do change relatively rapidly with height, location and time,” he said. “Besides environmental conditions, different types of engines produce different levels of exhaust, which can further change the potential for contrail formation.”
USA TODAY has debunked a variety of false claims about contrails, including the idea that they cause respiratory illness and that the U.N. created climate change using geoengineering and chemtrails.
USA TODAY was unable to reach the social media user for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
- Jamie Dyer, May 17-18, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- David Delene, May 18, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Federal Aviation Administration, June 18, 2021, Contrails 101
- USA TODAY, Aug. 16, 2016, Scientists disprove airplane ‘chemtrail’ theory
- Harvard, accessed May 19, Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory | The Keith Group
- BBC, July 23, 2022, Chemtrails: What’s the truth behind the conspiracy theory?
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