A number of images imply ‘chemtrails’ exist.
Some of the pictures show ‘chemtrails’ badges that are a joke, others show water ballast tanks that are used to simulate passengers during flight testing, others show a system for spraying anti-mosquito chemicals and pesticides.
A Facebook post contains 20 images appearing to support the conspiracy theory that so-called chemtrails are being used to spread poison or control the weather.
The first six photos show badges saying things like “don’t just spray em…barium” and “#teamchemtrail #sprayandpray”. Several pictures feature people sporting labels, badges and other branding from #TeamChemtrail—a running joke among pilots and social media users and a trend we’ve written about before.
A website based on #teamchemtrail is now inactive, but its archive says: “We are happy to present to you the official TeamChemtrail website where we work hard to bring forth some of the most entertaining pilot products you can find. Deep in the Chemworks we are constantly working hard to bring you new and improved ways of enlightening and scaring all conspiracy theorists.”
One of the pictures appears to show a pilot in headgear holding one of the stickers. The mask he’s wearing is an oxygen mask that pilots have, which are different to the yellow cup-style masks for passengers and ensure pilots can put them on quickly and have adequate oxygen to do their jobs at any altitude.
The next few photos in the post show tanks in the body of an aircraft. These are water ballast tanks, the weights of which can be manipulated to simulate the weight of passengers and cargo on flights during testing.
The photos of former German chancellor Angela Merkel looking round a plane containing such tanks was taken in 2014 when she was given a tour of a new Airbus A350.
Another photo just shows contrails, which we’ve written about before, which are often mislabelled as ‘chemtrails’. Contrails are formed when water vapour from aircraft engines freezes at high altitudes.
The next photo shows an aerial spray system, possibly in the cargo deck of a C-130 Hercules aircraft. This photograph shows a system that was used to spray for mosquito control in Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Similar systems are used to spray herbicides, pesticides and chemical dispersants that help break down oil spills.
The next two photos are of patents. One is for a “centrifugal aerosol dispenser assembly capable of dispersing a cloud of particulate aerosol material in a predetermined geometrical configuration”, filed in 1978 by the US Air Force.
The other is for a “powder contrail generation” which says it is for a “powder generator requiring no heat source to emit a ‘contrail’ with sufficient visibility”. The patent adds that “the term ‘contrail’ was adapted for convenience in identifying the visible powder trail of this invention”.
Contrails in general refer to what forms when warm moist exhaust fumes from an aircraft mixes with the cold air, producing ice crystal clouds, which sometimes contain tiny products of combustion but are essentially ice.
Neither patent proves that these commonly observed contrails are chemtrails, though that’s not to deny the fact that chemicals have been sprayed from planes, for example during warfare, as well as to clean up oil spills and spray pesticides, as mentioned above .
The last picture is one we’ve written about before which shows equipment called the Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS), which can be used to enable cargo planes to fight fire, being loaded onto a plane. This picture appears on Wikipedia under the entry for MAFFS.
Picture courtesy of Dylan Hunter
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because none of the pictures provide real evidence for the chemtrails conspiracy theory.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.