BARCELONA – The Public Prosecution Service in Barcelona closes the reports about ‘chemtrails’ after concluding that it is “a conspiracy theory”.
With this, the Environmental Court of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Barcelona will archive the first investigations opened following several reports about the stripes left by aeroplanes. These are also referred to as ‘chemtrails’. They are associated with the “alleged manipulation of clouds to prevent precipitation for various purposes”.
Theories have no scientific basis
The Public Prosecutor argues, writes the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, the theory that formed the basis of the submitted writings of private citizens is associated with conspiracy theories. The facts described, if they were true, would fall under offences against natural resources and the environment, as described in articles 325 et seq. of the Penal Code. However, in several documents, the prosecutors state that the theories have no scientific basis.
The Prosecution refers to several specialised texts in which the reported facts are related to the well-known “conspiracy theory” and states that they are in reality streaks produced by aircraft during flight or simply ordinary clouds.
Spraying chemicals on clouds
According to the people submitting the declarations, aircraft stripes were observed in the months of April and May 2023 in several municipalities in the province of Barcelona. These could be caused by aircraft “spraying various chemicals onto the clouds to alter the weather by reducing clouds and associated rainfall.”
Confusion with aircraft contrails
The Prosecutor’s Office refers to the State Meteorological Agency Aemet, which warned that “cloud seeding and other artificial weather control techniques should not be confused with aircraft contrails.”
“Aircraft trails are nothing more than ice crystal clouds that look like long lines and form as the plane passes and the water vapour condenses when the atmosphere is sufficiently cold and moist,” it is quoted as saying.
According to two reports from the Technical Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Environment, the stripes are formed when the hot gases from the combustion of kerosene emitted by the engines of the aircraft freeze on contact with the outside air (at a temperature of about 40 degrees below zero ) and ice crystal clouds form in the form of long lines. The reports and the conclusions drawn therein use information from the National Police and the public body Enaire, the main provider of air traffic navigation services and aeronautical information in Spain.
Aircraft engines emit water vapour, carbon dioxide, small amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, soot and metal particles. Of all these gases, only water vapour is relevant for the formation of the stripes. When these gases mix with the surrounding air, they cool quickly. Subsequently, if there is sufficient humidity in the atmosphere and the mixture becomes saturated, condensation of water vapour takes place, i.e. ice crystal clouds in the form of long lines.
Once formed, the evolution and persistence of the streaks in the sky depend on atmospheric conditions such as the temperature and humidity of the air, as well as the amount of water vapour and the temperature of the emissions. This causes some days to show more streaks than others, or aircraft to stop streaking when they change altitude.
“In general, they are formed from the condensation of water vapour in the engines’ exhaust and the higher the flight, the more likely the area is cold enough for the phenomenon to occur. The streaks have increased over the years as the altitude of commercial flights has also increased, in addition to the continued increase in air traffic,” it is quoted.
The reason why the stripes sometimes intersect and even form a network in the air is due to the existence of air highways or air corridors where air traffic is routed. The areas around the airports logically have the most stripes, because that is where most air traffic takes place during take-off and landing of flights.
Conclusion of the prosecution
In conclusion, the writings point out that the streaks are not due to the release of any specific chemical to harm the environment, and therefore “it cannot be argued that cause serious damage to the balance of natural systems or the environment”.
Also read: Special luminous trails in the sky spotted from Spain and France