this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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The really depressing thing about this, and many other "unexplained" aerial phenomena, is that it demonstrates how many people just never fucking look up at the sky.

[–] hansolo@lemm.ee 94 points 1 week ago (4 children)

"It's chemicals!"

"It's spider webs of chemicals!"

"It's microchips!"

"It's sun blocking special metallic smoke!"

"It's cancer seeds!"

  • My Mom, an expert on chemtrails
[–] Kichae@lemmy.ca 66 points 1 week ago (4 children)

"It's chemicals!"

Technically correct, I guess.

[–] hansolo@lemm.ee 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, and "it causes cancer" is as well. But not like... It's raining down cancer on you. More like jet fuel contains known carcinogens.

It's more the direct effects. According to my mom, the chemtrails should have...I don't know, but done whatever it was supposed to be doing by now. A 30+ year timeline for something causing cancer? So less bad than smoking? That's the metric?

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

At least some nutters have the decency to say that it's mind controlling chemicals, not the "you'll be dead soon" kind.

Kind of like the covid vaccine. I should have been dead in ~~3~~ ~~6~~ ~~8 months~~ ~~a year~~ ~~2 years~~ ~~3 years~~ ~~4 years~~ I'll be dead in 5 years!

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[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

H~2~O

The most scary of chemicals

[–] bbiva@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Dihydrogen Monoxide kills thousands of people every year. It should be banned! /s

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What kind of cancer will those seeds grow into?

[–] hansolo@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] nichtburningturtle@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do they also grow into lobsters, or do they believe in crab superiority.

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[–] Deme@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The fourth one of those is unfortunately an almost plausible theory. Plenty of people are seriously advocating for studies into Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) in order to mitigate climate change so that the almighty free market would have more time to fix the problem without any need for systemic change.

But that wouldn't be visible to the naked eye :D

Funnily enough, contrails like all other clouds composed of ice crystals actually warm the planet up by letting shortwave radiation from the sun through while reflecting longwave (infrared), effectively trapping heat. Thcker and lower clouds are more effective at reflecting shortwave radiation.

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[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 65 points 1 week ago (13 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory

Patrick Minnis, an atmospheric scientist with NASA's Langley Research Center, has said that logic does not dissuade most chemtrail proponents: "If you try to pin these people down and refute things, it's, 'Well, you're just part of the conspiracy'".

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

That or you're just "asleep" and need to "wake up".

[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But these are the same people saying things are too "Woke"

So which is it?

🤣

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wake up, but don't be woke, obviously.

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[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Dude on my Facebook posted a Pic of some repurposed 747 with a bunch of tubes in the cabin with a caption about the chemtrail stuff taking up space. Like, motherfucker, if it takes that much space, how is every passenger jet doing it??

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[–] eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

You can't ration people out of positions they did not rationalize themselves into.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Understanding is cemented in one's original source of information about the world. Shaping a pre-existing understand requires not just accuracy but volume, because you're not competing against faulty logic. You're competing against accumulated memories.

If someone is deep into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole, what is shaping their opinion is the consistent repetition of orthodoxy over time. Similarly, if someone is highly educated in a particular scientific field, their opinion is shaped by the persistent need to reaffirm fundamental truths in order to succeed and progress. We are not computers. We are not creatures of pure logic. We are the accumulation of our prior experiences and exposures.

You should not be surprised if an individual - when confronted with a narrow band of contrary information - does not immediately jettison all their prior information. Because ask yourself - would you? I mean, if a single guy showed up with a stack of papers insisting he's proved without a shadow of a doubt that chemtrails are real and the entire professional weather reporting community is lying to you, is there anything they could show you that you wouldn't greet with skepticism proportional to your exposure to professional weather science?

Because, if the answer is "No", then why would you expect someone immersed in hundreds of hours of conspiracy theory podcasts and think pieces and social media conversations to behave any differently?

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[–] blady_blah@lemmy.world 39 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I had my conspiracy theory ex brother in law explain that chem trails were things Biden added to jets to fight global warming.... My response was "shit, I wish that was true!"

Somehow that wasn't the answer he was expecting.

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[–] HowAbt2morrow@futurology.today 31 points 1 week ago (3 children)

And in a country with dogshit standards for HS science. And math. And reading. And history.

[–] KazuchijouNo@lemy.lol 9 points 1 week ago

More like "High school science failed them" right?

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[–] Vorticity@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

I got back in touch with a friend of mine who who graduated in the same class as me with a B.S. in Physics. When they learned that I'm an atmospheric scientist, their first question was "What's the deal with Chem trails?"

Point being, conspiracy theories also infect the educated sometimes.

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 28 points 1 week ago (9 children)

On the other hand, we have seen exhaust being very efficient in distributing chemicals with adverse health effects across the planet. Leaded gasoline was a huge oopsie that still has adverse health effects today.

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[–] seeigel@feddit.org 24 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Conspiracy theories are an outlet. People need a reason for why society is not as good as they feel it could be.

Most people blame the other political party. But that doesn't work for everybody. The mind keeps looking until it finds a reason, and then it fades out all arguments that oppose it.

We laugh about conspiracy theorists, but most have the same mindset, just with socially acceptable topics.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Yeah real chemical companies dump their chemicals straight into a river.

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[–] GooberEar@lemmy.wtf 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This reminds me of the time when I was a kid and me and several of my family members went racing out into the front yard to watch the plane that was doing all kinds of aerial acrobatics over our neighbors's field dropping whatever chemical or fertilizer was in their tanks that day so we were all basically coated in it by the time they were done and we went back inside. Except I wasn't a kid when it happened, I was a fully informed adult who should have known better and then a few days later we found out it was some kind of potentially dangerous fungicide. But on the plus side I now have 3 penises.

[–] Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This reminds me of my parents' stories of running out to play in the clouds of DDT when the spray trucks went through the neighborhood

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

When I read /r/teachers and all the trouble they're having teaching the next generation, this is the sort of thing I imagine is coming. A couple of years ago, GenZ was saying, in essence, "We just need to wait for all the 'boomers' to die off, then everything will be better." No. No, that will just make things worse. GenX leftists are the only ones holding the line, and Millennial teachers are about to give up and walk away, seriously. It's pretty fuckin' bad, and it's clear it's going to get worse, looking at how many kids are coming up through the school system who can barely read and write and have practically zero attention span or motivation.

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[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The only planes actually dropping chemicals are just doing farm work.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Uhhhhhmmmm akshually there are increased cancer rates near airports because, it turns out, setting jet fuel on fire and shoving it out of an engine to go fast leads to some of those chemicals settling into the land around concentrated flight paths.

This is the unfortunate kernel of truth that sets the dummies tilting at conspiracy theories instead advocating for environmental regulation.

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[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

Meanwhile, the government: “That’s fucking stupid. We don’t poison you with the air, that would be inefficient. We have to breathe that, too. We just poison the water and the soil, and if you’re a target we will just pick you up off of the street like a stray cat, we’ve always been very up front about that.”

[–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 week ago

I literally put it together in highschool when someone mentioned it to me after learning about how clouds form from nuclei.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 week ago

More like elementary school. We learned about water vapor in 3rd grade.

[–] Emmie@lemm.ee 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I have no idea how it works and I studied chemical engineering. I guess I would have to study physical engineering

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[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Meanwhile space x makes a flare and has falling debris , MAGA: gotta buy a cybertruck and drive it into ocean to show support

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