A Tennessee bill doesn’t prove ‘chemtrails’ are real

Social media users are claiming Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill that would ban "chemtrails" — something that doesn’t exist.

A March 20 Instagram reel shared a video of an aircraft flying across a blue sky, leaving a white streak in its wake. Text on the video said, "If chemtrails are ‘conspiracy theory,’ then why did Tennessee just pass a bill that would actively ban the practice?"

Another Instagram post shared a screenshot of an X post that said, "The Tennessee State Senate passed a bill today that would ban the spraying of chemicals for geoengineering in our skies." The post’s caption said, "Tennessee Senate confirms that ch!m trails are real."

(Screengrab from Instagram)

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We’ve debunked several claims about chemtrails, a conspiracy theory that claims the condensation trails behind aircraft are part of a secret, large-scale program to poison the atmosphere with toxic chemicals. Multiple government agencies and scientists say chemtrails are not real.

The Tennessee bill, which the state Senate passed March 18, would amend the Tennessee Air Quality Act to "prohibit the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight."

The bill doesn’t mention "chemtrails." It says the federal government "may conduct geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere." 

Geoengineering is an umbrella term for technologies that could be used to manipulate the environment to offset climate change’s effects. Some methods that would inject aerosols into the atmosphere have been the focus of misinformation.

We found no reports that the government is conducting geoengineering in Tennessee. Nongovernmental entities must report to the government planned weather modification activities in the U.S.; none have been reported in Tennessee.

The chemtrails conspiracy theory claims the chemicals released into the air are intended to reduce people’s life expectancy or sterilize them, control people’s minds or control the weather, Harvard University researchers said.

During the Tennessee General Assembly’s discussion of the bill this month, some state lawmakers and witnesses who testified in support of the bill referred directly and indirectly to chemtrails.

Republican state Rep. Chris Todd said during a hearing that he’s seen chemtrails all his life. "When jets were invented, we started seeing chemtrails," he said.

But "chemtrail" is a misnomer for the streaks of white sometimes seen across the sky. They’re actually aircraft condensation trails, or contrails, and contain no chemicals.

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Contrails form when hot humid air from aircraft exhaust mixes with cool atmospheric air — similar to exhaling on a cold day and seeing your breath cloud, the National Weather Service said.

The more humid the air, the longer contrails will remain visible in the sky, the National Weather Service said. NASA’s Earth Observatory said some contrail clusters have lasted up to 14 hours.

"Persistence of contrails is neither an indication that they contain some kind of chemical, nor that it is some kind of spray," the National Weather Service said.

The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also say contrails are a natural phenomenon and don’t threaten humans’ health.

Dr. Denise Sibley, who supports the bill and introduced herself as an internal medicine doctor from Johnson City, Tennessee, said, "There’s no doubt weather modification is taking place within our state." We found no evidence such as news stories or government news releases to support that claim.

When lawmakers asked what entities are doing this, Sibley pointed to the White House’s June 2023 research plan related to solar radiation modification — a form of geoengineering — and named the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.

The 44-page White House report explores the potential benefits of and risks from research into solar geoengineering, which are methods to reflect sunlight away from the earth to cool the atmosphere and partially offset climate change.

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy produced the report, with NOAA’s support, to fulfill a congressional mandate in the 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The report doesn’t include any proposed federal government action on solar radiation modification research.

NOAA and NASA spokespeople told PolitiFact the agencies are not conducting atmospheric geoengineering experiments.

Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones said during discussion of the bill that he opposed it because "it seems like a lot of this is based on conspiracy theories."

In response, Republican state Rep. Monty Fritts, who introduced the bill, said, "Unfortunately, it is a wild thing, but I think it is real."

The state House is considering the bill; it’s unclear whether it has enough support to pass.

Social media posts claimed a Tennessee bill that would ban the atmospheric release of chemicals is evidence chemtrails are real.

The bill does not mention chemtrails. It refers to geoengineering, which is a real practice but not in use in Tennessee.

Scientists, government agencies and the U.S. Air Force say chemtrails are not real and are part of a conspiracy theory. Aircraft condensation trails contain no chemicals.

We rate this claim Pants on Fire!