Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian; An attack of the vapours: Tennessee bill endorses chemtrails conspiracy theory
"Proponents of the debunked chemtrails idea believe that the cloudy white lines created by airplane emissions are chemicals being released into the atmosphere. The idea is that the government, or shadowy private organizations, are pumping out toxic chemicals, with the aim being anything from modifying the weather to controlling a population’s minds.
This is not happening, scientists say.
“There’s no such thing as chemtrails,” said Alan Robock, a climate science professor at Rutgers university...
Numerous debunkings of the chemtrails concept have not succeeded in quieting those fearful of airplane condensation trails. A YouGov/Statista survey conducted in 2019 found that 8% of Americans “strongly believe” that “the government is using chemicals to control the population (chemtrails)”. (A further 11% said they “somewhat believe” in the theory.)...
Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, said people are drawn to various conspiracy theories because “a simple explanation is often not very attractive”.
“People assume that there must somehow be a bigger explanation, or more going on than people know about. The simple explanations often seem too mundane and not satisfying enough,” Douglas said."
