Trail of Conspiracy

By Robin Brunet-Contributing writer

It's early August, and the radio in a coffee shop on Kingsway is issuing bulletins about the heat wave gripping North America. Customers fan themselves and counter girls wipe sweat off their brows. But two men sitting in a corner booth seem unaffected by the weather; they're more concerned about what's causing it, and they don't think it's an act of God.

"Check this out," says the taller of the two, tapping a long, lean finger at a photo of a blue sky, then a photo of the same sky crisscrossed by airplane exhaust trails-called "contrails"-then a third shot of the sky covered by haze. "That happened within an hour. These aren't normal jet trails, and nobody can tell me this is normal haze."

The other man, who has a goatee and a mop of blonde hair, nods gravely. "There have been too many documented incidences like this, too many cases of citizens falling sick, too much evidence not to conclude that something strange is going on in our skies," he says.

The tall man, whose black hair is greying at the temples, is Jeff-he doesn't want his last name used for fear of being tracked down by who or what is behind what's been dubbed "chemtrails"; his friend is Randy Sokalofsky, manager of a nearby Big O Tire dealership. They are polite and well-spoken, and can rattle off scientific jargon with ease.

And if their extracurricular activity of photographing airplane exhaust seems offbeat, they're in good company: hundreds of other "chemtrail" observers are warning people through the Internet that the military is spraying chemicals into the stratosphere in order to do everything from control the weather to inoculate North Americans against biological warfare.

As far-fetched as these theories sound, in the U.S. they've inspired considerable public consternation-so much so that the Air Force, several federal departments and NASA embarked on a campaign last year to prove that jet exhaust contains little more than water vapour. But the public remains skeptical, and now the chemtrail furor has spread to B.C. "In the last little while we have been swamped with calls from good, honest people who insist they're being poisoned," says Bruce Thomas, head of Environment Canada's Atmospheric Sciences Division in Vancouver. "It's a real problem because nothing we say puts them at ease. Some callers are so stressed and upset, I worry they really will become ill."

Although conspiracy theorists believe criss-cross airplane exhaust patterns are prime evidence covert military operations are taking place, almost any exhaust-even a single streak cutting through the sky-falls under their scrutiny. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that web sites devoted to the propagation of conspiracy theories began focusing on chemtrails about three years ago. The chief instigator is an Aspen, Colo. resident named Clifford E. Carnicorn, who launched a site in 1999 devoted to chemtrails after deciding that grid-like exhaust patterns could not be water vapour because many of them lingered for more than an hour. Www.carnicorn.com publishes photographs of exhausts, has documented 3,175 cases of people suffering sore throats, headaches and nausea after being exposed to exhaust in Canada and the U.S., and has even petitioned the EPA to analyze "fibrous samples" purportedly emitted from chemtrails as well as rainwater containing magnesium, barium and "Department of Defense-patented" bacteria pseudomonas fluorescens.

Carnicorn has inspired other prominent conspiracy theorists-including best-selling alien abduction author Whitley Strieber-to ponder why chemicals are being dumped into the stratosphere. Thomas says the explanation he hears most frequently is that the military is trying to slow global warming by spraying particulates that bounce sunlight back into space.

Other theories bandied about: 1) To curb health care expenditures, the military is lacing the atmosphere with poison that will speed the demise of AIDS sufferers and the elderly; 2) Mindful of the possibility the U.S. may be a target for biological warfare, the military is inoculating the public; 3) In cahoots with biogenetic engineers, the military is spraying chemicals that will heat the atmosphere, wipe out natural crops and force people to buy genetically modified food; 4) The military is experimenting with chemicals that will eventually allow them to create hurricanes and tornadoes during overseas combat missions.

Jeff, 39, who is single and between jobs, does not think people are being innoculated, but grows agitated at the prospect of crop annihilation. "It's common knowledge farmers are struggling to grow decent crops." He adds, ominously: "Even mainstream newspapers are taking note of the unusually harsh drought sweeping Canada."

Jeff was introduced to the chemtrail issue three years ago. "I was visiting Vancouver Island, and a group of new age hippies gave me a special bottle of water to drink," he recalls. "When I asked what the water was for, they told me it to was to counteract the effects of atmospheric spraying. I thought, 'What a bunch of loonies.'" But shortly afterwards, Jeff scrutinized jet exhausts and became alarmed at the geometric patterns some of them formed. "I used binoculars to identify the kind of aircraft making these things, and they were unmarked," he says. "From that point on, I tapped into the web sites to learn more."

Sokalofsky, 35, who is married with four children, became a believer several months ago. "Jeff kept talking about chemtrails, and I didn'buy it. But my attitude changed when I surfed the net: the sheer volume of photographs and discussion taking place indicates that something real is going on." Sokalofsky, who suspects the military is trying to slow global warming, began chronicling incidences of multiple exhaust trails over the skies of greater Vancouver; one incident, he says, left his entire family feeling sick and sore: "My doctor told me everybody gets the flu this time of year. But he admitted that this year has been particularly bad for colds and lingering viruses."

Jeff and Sokalofsky not only photograph exhaust trails; the former sometimes goes into the night gathering "residue" left by aircraft. Holding up a white card coated with Scotch tape, he says: "If you shine a flashlight in the air you can actually see particles. I catch samples with sticky tape." Upon closer inspection, the tape contains minute traces of dirt and glitter that Jeff collected the night of July 30 near Burnaby.

Both men have approached the media with their findings. "My regular customers at Big O Tire include a meteorologist and a reporter from a Vancouver radio station, and I always mention chemtrails to them, but they want no part of it," says Sokalofsky. Jeff, who has voiced his opinions on open-line radio programs, remarks: "These smiling, benign faces you see on BCTV and other outlets are full of shit. They are owned by the big wheels-you get nowhere with them."

Last September, the pestering of U.S. government and military officials by chemtrail theorists prompted the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to publish fact sheets explaining that the combination of water vapor in aircraft exhausts and low ambient temperatures that often exist at high altitudes allows the formation of long-lasting condensation trails. The U.S. Air Force also published a lengthy press release debunking chemtrail arguments point-by-point. Amongst its assertions: grid patterns are caused because the national airspace system is oriented in an

east-west/north-south grid with aircraft flying at 2,000-foot increments of elevation, and the bacteria allegedly developed by the military found in samples is actually a common, naturally occurring bacteria. For their efforts, the EPA and Air Force were accused by Carnicorn and colleagues of stonewalling the public.

Terry Stewart, Airport Planning and Environment manager for the Victoria Airport Authority, became an unwitting puppet of conspiracy theorists last December, when Victoria resident Mark Porter phoned him demanding to know why intricate exhaust trails were appearing over the B.C. capital. Stewart phoned Canadian Forces Base Comox for information, and on Dec. 8, left this message on Porter's answering machine: "From what I gather, it's a military exercise, a U.S. and Canada Air Force exercise that's going on. They wouldn't give me any specifics on it. Hope that helps your interest."

Stewart's quote was printed in the March 22 edition of Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country web site with the headline: "Tape seems to confirm chemtrails a military operation." The accompanying article claims the Victoria trails were made by U.S. Air Force KC-135 and KC-10 refueling tankers, each of which carry 150,000 pounds of fuel. Strieber, who suspects the military is attempting to combat global warming by spraying chemicals, wrote: "The public has been kept in ignorance about the real state of our atmosphere, which must be in extreme crisis."

Since then, Stewart has been pestered not only by callers alerting him to exhaust trails over their neighbourhoods, but theorists congratulating him for supporting their cause. "Chemtrails has become the bane of my existence," he says. "It's caused nothing but embarrassment. My uncle in L.A. even phoned me one night to say that a late night talk show host mentioned my name in his monologue. And I may be getting paranoid, but the last few times I visited the U.S., the border guards really grilled me and made me cool my heels, as if they suspected me of being a whacko." Stewart pauses briefly. "You know what really kills me? We have nothing to do with what goes on in the stratosphere. The Victoria Airport Authority is concerned only with what goes on at ground level."

CFB Comox receives phone calls from concerned citizens almost daily. "One guy in his late 30s was so wound up, he appeared at our gates and had to be intercepted by the military police," says Wing Operation Officer Manfred Arndt. "It took me one and a half hours to convince him that chemtrails don't exist." Explanatory articles have been published in local newspapers, but Arndt still finds himself being diverted from his airfight management duties to engage in fruitless debate with civilians: "There is a Victoria radio reporter who, no matter what I say to dissuade him, maintains that chemicals are being sprayed in the stratosphere."

Although chemtrail inquiries generally originate near military bases, Environment Canada's Thomas has been getting calls from a growing number of Lower Mainlanders. "I don't know why, but they are persistent, whether they be young or old, male or female."

Thomas's department has become so sensitive to the issue that, in preparation for what would otherwise be an innocuous Environment Canada field study, it has produced a series of pamphlets explaining that two airplanes started flying over the Fraser Valley Aug. 3 and will continue until Sept. 3 to test atmospheric conditions. "They will help determine how pollution has grown since 1993," says Thomas. "We decided to explain our study in detail because we knew we would be bombarded by alarmists if we said nothing."

Thomas is aware there is no placating conspiracy theorists. "It annoys me that after I explain the science of contrails, all I get are insults. I remember one old lady remarking: 'I'm really disappointed to hear someone of your background and intelligence ignoring the truth.' Then she hung up." Thomas's inclination is to avoid debate, but he points out that as a public servant, he is duty-bound to take every call seriously. So is Arndt, Stewart and officials at the Vancouver Airport Authority, who declined to discuss the topic other than to acknowledge they deal with chemtrail inquiries.

Ironically, while the theorists advance far-fetched explanations for contrails, they have overlooked a startling admission made earlier this year by the National Science Foundation: jet exhausts may inadvertently be changing the climate. An NSF study found that condensation trails influence regional climate and that in certain heavy traffic corridors, cloud cover has increased by as much as 20 per cent. This disclosure was supported by Patrick Minnis of NASA's Langley Research Centre, who reports that cloud cover is up five per cent in North America since jet travel commenced, with most new clouds possibly being cirrus formations that contrails evolve into. The NSF, NASA and the EPA predict the phenomena will intensify with increases in commercial air travel and the introduction of new-generation sub-sonic jets. "These are incredible disclosures, but I guess the theorists have turned a blind eye because it isn't a conspiracy and therefore not intriguing," says Arndt.

One reason why conspiracy theories abound in the U.S. is cultural. Americans have a deep-seated mistrust of government, and historians point out that the American Revolution was rooted in a pandemic of persecution delusions. (Since then, American history has been steeped with everything from the Yellow Peril to the Red Nightmare, the latter triggering the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s). Despite the damaging effect many theories have had, conspiracies continue to be a major part of popular entertainment both stateside and in Canada. "I'm guilty of enjoying a good conspiracy theory," admits Arndt. "There are no end of shows about the Kennedy assassination and Roswell. They're great fun."

But Arndt sees little entertainment value in the chemtrail hubub. "There are too many rational explanations for the phenomena. Contrails lasting for an hour instead of 10 minutes is not puzzling when you consider modern jet engines are turbo-charged fan jets that move a far greater volume of air than the old fashioned jets. I also wouldn't be surprised if there has been an increase in reports of people suffering sore throats and rashes. But how come contrails 30,000 feet in the sky are to blame instead of all the ground-based pollution caused by automobiles?

"If the military really were trying to do the things the theorists say, it would be such a huge undertaking involving thousands of people that there's no way we could keep it under wraps."

Jeff and Sokalofsky remain true believers, but disagree on the direction their investigation should take. "I've talked to the media and government and gotten nowhere," says Jeff, slapping a handful of cloud photographs on the table of his coffee shop booth. "I don't give a crap what anyone thinks anymore." Sokalofsky, smiling ruefully at his friend, says: "I think there's still a chance people can get together and petition Ottawa to look into the matter." But for his children's sake, he is maintaining a low profile at home. "My oldest boy is only nine, so I'm careful not to spook any of my kids. At this stage I'm just trying to teach them to be environmentally aware."

Thomas wishes people like Jeff and Sokalofsky would go away. "The theorists are scaring people, and I am very concerned about the older folk who phone me," he says. "There is such a thing about worrying yourself sick, and the intensity and alarm exhibited by some callers is very, very disturbing. I hope nothing worse happens. I wish the chemtrails theory would disappear, but with all the talk about global warming these days, I don't think it will anytime soon."