It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a chemtrail? A new conspiracy theory takes wing at Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services

While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace He spots a gray plane flying above him and believes it is releasing chemicals that are making him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all the white vapor trails coming from the planes might be dangerous.

he Share his concern With reporters, they admitted it sounded a bit like “The X Files,” a sci-fi TV show.

Academics cite Wallace’s story as one of the catalysts behind a fringe concept that has spread among followers of the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement and is gaining traction at the highest levels of the federal government. Treating it as a serious issue underscores that under President Donald Trump, unscientific ideas have extraordinary power to dominate and shape public health policy.

This concept assumes that jet vapor trails, or jets, exist Really “chemtrails” They contain toxic substances that poison people and the terrain. Another version claims that planes or devices exist Which is published by the federal governmentOr private companies or researchers to cause significant changes in weather, such as hurricanes, or to change the Earth’s climate, emitting dangerous chemicals in the process.

Many GOP lawmakers and leaders in the Trump administration remain convinced that these concepts are legitimate, even as scholars have sought to debunk the claims.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. plans to investigate climate and weather control and is expected to form a task force that would recommend potential federal action, according to a former official at the agency. Internal agency memorandum It was obtained by KFF Health News, and a consultant helped prepare the memo.

The plans, along with comments from top GOP lawmakers, show how rumors and conspiracy theories can gain an air of legitimacy due to social media and a political climate rife with lies, some political scientists and researchers say.

“When we have low access to information or low confidence in our information sources, we often turn to our peer groups, the groups we belong to and with which we identify,” he said. Timothy Tangerlinifolklorist and professor of information at the University of California – Berkeley. He added that the government’s investigation into conspiracy theories “gives the impression that there are some credible elements.”

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to appoint a special government employee to investigate climate and weather control, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. gray delaney, Previous head From the agency’s agenda, which said it drafted the memo. Jim Lee, a weather and climate-focused blogger who Delaney said helped write the memo, said the agency interviewed applicants to lead the Chemistry Pathways task force.

“The Department of Health and Human Services does not comment on future or potential policy decisions and task forces,” agency spokeswoman Emily Hilliard said in an email.

The memo claims that “volatile heavy metals such as aluminium, barium and strontium, as well as other substances such as sulfuric acid precursors, are being sprayed into the atmosphere under the auspices of combating global warming,” through the process of stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI.

“There are serious concerns that SAI spraying results in increased heavy metal content in the atmosphere,” the memo said.

The memo claims, without providing any evidence, that the substances cause high heavy metal content in the atmosphere, soil, and waterways, and that aluminum is a toxic product used in SAIs linked to dementia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, asthma-like illnesses, and other chronic diseases. The July 14 memo was addressed to the White House health advisor Kali meanswho did not respond to a voicemail message left by a reporter seeking comment.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, said high-ranking federal government officials are making false claims as facts without evidence and pointing to events that not only did not happen but, in many cases, are physically impossible.

“It is a very shocking note,” he said. “They don’t get any more tinfoil hats. They really think they’re being sprayed with toxins.”

Kennedy has previously promoted debunked chemtrail theories. In May, he was asked on “Dr. Phil Primetime” about chemicals being sprayed into the stratosphere to change Earth’s climate.

“This was done, we believe, by DARPA.” Kennedy said, Referring to a Department of Defense agency that develops emerging technology for military use. “And a lot of it is coming out of jet fuel now. This stuff is being put into jet fuel. I’m going to do everything I can to stop that. We’re bringing in someone who will only think about that.”

DARPA officials did not return a message seeking comment.

Federal correspondence

The deployment of chemical drugs to poison people is just one of many baseless conspiracy theories that have found traction among health policy officials in the Trump administration led by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before entering politics. He continues to promote a supposed link between vaccines and autism, as well as make statements Fluoride binding In drinking water can lead to arthritis, bone fractures, thyroid disease, and cancer. The World Health Organization says Fluoride is safe When used as recommended.

Delaney, who was He was ousted in August From the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy showed a strong interest in chemical compounds, Kennedy said.

“This is an issue that really matters to MAHA,” Delaney said, referring to the informal movement associated with Kennedy that is made up of people skeptical of evidence-based medicine.

The memo also alleges that “suspicious weather events have occurred that have increased public awareness of the issue, some of which have been acknowledged to have been caused by geoengineering activities, such as the floods in Dubai in 2024.” Geological engineering refers to Make deliberate, large-scale climate change efforts to combat global warming.

“It is unconscionable that anyone would be allowed to spray known neurotoxins and environmental toxins onto our nation’s citizens, their lands, and their food and water supplies,” Delaney’s memo said.

Scientists, meteorologists and other branches of the federal government say those assertions are largely untrue. Some points in the memo are accurate, including concerns that commercial aircraft contribute to acid rain.

But critics say the memo relies on the core of truth before veering into fringe, unscientific theories. Efforts to control the weather are being made, largely by states and local governments seeking to combat drought, but the results are modest and highly localized. Scientists say it is not possible to manipulate large-scale weather events.

Severe floods in the UAE in 2024 cannot be caused by weather manipulation because there is no technology that can create this type of rainfall. Martin AmbaumA meteorologist at the University of Reading, who studies rainfall patterns in the Bay Area, said in a statement about the flooding. Similar debunked allegations It appeared this year After central Texas witnessed devastating floods.

The Government Accountability Office concluded in a 2024 report Questions remain about the effectiveness of weather modification.

Climate change research, including work, has been done before One private company Which participated in field tests. However, federal agencies say there are no ongoing or large-scale projects underway. The concept remains to be studied Research stage. The EPA says there is Not on a large scale Or government efforts to influence the Earth’s climate.

“Solar geoengineering does not occur via direct delivery by commercial aircraft nor is it associated with it Aviation jets“, the agency says on its website.

Widespread misinformation

Misconceptions about weather, climate control and jet storms extend far beyond the Trump administration, scientists said.

In September, Congress House committee hearing Titled “Weather Manipulation – Catastrophic Forecast,” it included two hours of discussion on the previously fringe idea. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who chaired the hearing, introduced legislation to ban weather and climate control, with a fine of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison.

Some Democrats objected to the nature of the debate. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D.N.M.) accused Greene of using “the platform of Congress to advance anti-science theories and a platform of climate denial.”

Republican lawmakers often cite chemtrails Legislation introduced in About twenty States to ban weather modification or geoengineering. Florida passed the bill To create an online portal so residents can report alleged violations.

“A free Florida means freedom from governments or private actors unilaterally applying chemicals or geoengineering to people or public places,” Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement. press release This spring.

At the same time, the “chemtrail” conspiracy has permeated popular culture. The title track of Lana Del Rey’s seventh studio album is titled “Chemtrails above the country clubBill Maher delved into the chemtrail myth on his podcast “Club Random,” saying: “This is nuts. It’s just nuts“. And “Chemtrails”, which is a psychological thriller film, Wrapped photography In July.

Social media has given its wing to the concept of chemical compounds and other fringe ideas related to public health. They include a bizarre belief that Anthony Fauci, who has advised both Trump and President Joe Biden on the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Creating the AIDS epidemic. Public health leaders say there is no evidence of such a link.

Another misconception among those on the far right is that people who have received coronavirus vaccines can… Shed the virusWhich causes infertility in unvaccinated people. Scientists and researchers say that there is no evidence of such a connection.

Scientists say extreme weather events caused by global warming may be the driver behind some unfounded theories. Some public health leaders say the risks occur when such ideas take hold among the general population or policymakers. Climate researchers, including Swain, say they have received death threats.

Blogger Lee said he disagrees with some far-fetched beliefs and recognizes the harm they can cause.

“There are people who want to shoot down planes because they think they are chemical trails,” he told me, adding that some believers are afraid to venture out when trails of plane fumes are visible in the sky.

There is also no evidence that jet jets cause health problems or are linked to deliberate climate control efforts, according to the EPA and other scientists.

David Keith, a professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, said the memo and the focus at the Department of Health and Human Services on climate and weather control is troubling because it perpetuates conspiracies.

“It is not connected to reality,” he added. “I expected documents like this to exist, but to see them in print is nonetheless shocking. Our government is driven by senseless idiocy from the dark corners of social media.”