Tag Archives: vapour

An image of vapour trails left in the sky by aeroplanes has been shared on Facebook alongside a caption claiming these are “chemtrails” that are blocking the sun. 

This isn’t true. These white lines are contrails, trails of vapour left behind by planes. 

The image shows the roofs of what appear to be terraced houses or businesses, alongside a blue sky. A number of white trails are visible in the sky, some crossing each other, with some appearing to be in front of the sun. 

It was posted with the caption: “Bill gates + Chemtrails = block the sun”. 

We’ve written many times about “chemtrails”, a false but enduring conspiracy theory that typically claims these white lines are evidence of a plot to control the weather or spread poison by spraying…

A post on Facebook shows two pictures of the sky: one of clouds with the caption “these are clouds”, and the other of several trails from planes, with the caption “these are chemtrails”. 

While it’s true that one of the images does show clouds, the other does not show “chemtrails”. It shows contrails, which consist of water vapour that freezes in the cold temperatures at high altitude forming long thin lines of cloud. 

Depending on the humidity and temperature of the air, the tiny ice crystals can either change directly from a solid to a gas (becoming invisible after a few minutes) or remain in the air as water or ice, which means they stay visible for several hours. 

Not all planes will produce contrails. Slight differences in flight altitude and the…