Chemtrails: it's a conspiracy, y'know

My God.  What hath The X-Files backspun?

I need to make it clear: that was a joke, ok?  Need to get that across before I start getting comments telling me, "The first chemtrails were spotted in 1963!  Decades before X-Files, you dumbass!" or something like that.

I've developed a modest, passing interest in the notion of chemtrails.  Interest, not belief.  The idea goes that at least a few of the trails left behind by jet aircraft are really chemical or biological agents sprayed at high altitudes and allowed to drift down into our lungs.  For what purpose?  That's unknown.  Could be anything really.  Population control, weather control, or perhaps even psychological or somatic control by an as yet unknown shadow government bent on a New World Order.  One of the more interesting theories that I have read posits that the skies are being seeded with metals such as aluminum and silicon in order to facilitate greater manipulation of the weather by the HAARP installation in Alaska.

What's the difference between a chemtrail and a regular contrail?  According to believers, it all comes down to persistence.  If a contrail remains stationary in the sky for more than half a day, it's a chemtrail.  

Certain citizens of the United States, Britain, and Canada have petitioned their respective governments, demanding to know what is going on in their skies.  The response from entities political, scientific, and military have been pretty standard: it's a hoax, it's explainable, there's no evidence to support the existence of chemtrails.  Proponents of chemtrails point to samples that have been collected of both soil and water after purported chemtrails have come to ground.  Analysis, they assert, demonstrates higher than normal levels of barium.  Opponents refute this claim, stating that the levels, while high, are still within normal range and people are really just seeing regular plane contrails.  And back and forth and so on.

Sound familiar?  It should.  While I am far from prepared to support the existence of chemtrails, I will acknowledge that the notion is no "crazier" than the UFO conspiracy.  After all, if our government would conceal alien life from us, what else would "They" do?  One interesting bit I learned is that Rep. Dennis Kucinich once introduced a bill to Congress that proposed a ban on weapons testing in space or in the atmosphere.  It specifically mentioned chemtrails.  The Pentagon expressed vehement opposition and the bill died in committee. Curious.

Like I said, not ready to buy into chemtrails just yet.  But as I see plane contrails crisscross the sky above my house, located in one of the most heavily congested stretches of airspace in America, I'll always wonder.

Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets