The Pentagon and NORAD Respond to Danielle Smith: Nope, We’re Not Spraying Chemicals Over Alberta

The Pentagon and NORAD are responding to a recent suggestion from the Premier of Alberta that the US Department of Defence could be responsible for alleged reports of chemtrails over Edmonton, Alberta.

At a recent town hall, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith fielded a question from one attendee who wanted an explanation about lines they’ve been looking at in the sky.

According to local journalist Katie Teeling, the attendee specifically asked Smith for an explanation about “chemtrails over Edmonton.”

The next attendee asks about the chem trails over Edmonton, which Smith says she’s asked the people who control the airspace over Edmonton what the story is. She says that no one is allowed to enter that airspace and spray any chemicals. The crowd boos in response.

— Katie Teeling (@teelingkat) September 28, 2024

Commercial aircraft frequently produce visible vapour trails in the sky when emissions from planes come into contact with humid air.

Online conspiracy theorists have latched onto this phenomenon to suggest they are spraying chemicals to control or reduce populations. As BBC News points out, other variations of the conspiracy claim the chemtrails are “being used to spread Covid-19, distribute vaccines, initiate ‘mind control’, reduce the population or vaguely promote a ‘new world order’.”

Video of Smith’s response was later posted on social media by an account called DisorderedYYC, showing Smith told the attendee she had looked into this matter previously and had been told the Pentagon could possibly be responsible.

“The best I have been able to do is talk to the woman who is responsible for controlling the airspace, and she says no one is allowed to go up and spray anything in the air,” Smith said.

“The other person told me that if anyone is doing it, it’s the US Department of Defence.”

“I have some limitations in what I can do in my job, I don’t know that I would have much power if that is the case, if the US Department of Defence is spraying us.”

In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson said the US Department of Defence has no knowledge of any aircraft currently spraying chemicals over Alberta.

“No sir,” a spokesperson for US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told PressProgress.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a bi-national organization responsible for defending the airspace of Canada and the United States, also confirmed no aircraft under its command are spraying chemicals on Alberta.

“NORAD and US Northern Command are not conducting any flight activities in Canada that involve the spraying of chemicals,” a NORAD spokesperson told PressProgress.

A Premier’s Office spokesperson responded to the Pentagon and NORAD’s denials about their involvement in chemtrails by suggesting the premier was passing along second-hand information.

“The Premier was simply sharing what she has heard from some folks over the summer on this issue,” Premier’s Office spokesperson Savannah Johannsen told PressProgress. “She was not saying that she believed the US government was using chemtrails in Alberta.”

Johanssen added Smith has “heard concerns from many Albertans about this topic” and asked the provincial government to investigate further but “found no evidence of chemtrails.”