I recently saw this movie on Youtube, where it's available for free. I admit that I'm very ambivalent about it.
The film hawks a conspiracy theory known as Chemtrails, according to which the U.S. military is conducting secret experiments on a massive scale by dumping aluminium and other toxic substances into the air from unmarked aircraft. The toxins create "chemtrails", which criss-cross the sky and look very different from ordinary contrails. Sceptics consider them contrails or unusual cloud formations, and have written off the Chemtrail conspiracy theory as a hoax.
"What in the world are they spraying" is produced by Reality Zone, the website of G. Edward Griffin, a member and long-time officer of the John Birch Society, a conservative-minimal government group which believes in a variety of conspiracy theories, including the existence of the Illuminati (which the Birchers refer to as the Insiders). G. Edward Griffin should not be confused with David Ray Griffin, a left-liberal scholar who also believes in conspiracy theories! The documentary features the conservative Griffin plus some people of more uncertain political provenance, including a former Arizona state senator.
I'm not convinced by the Chemtrail conspiracy theory itself. And no, I probably couldn't tell a contrail from a cloud! The problem is more general. Griffin believes that the conspiracy is vast and spans every NATO country. It's not clear how long the illegal spraying has been going on, but according to Wikipedia, the theory saw the light of the day in 1996. That's 16 years ago. Is it really likely that a global, secret conspiracy could be going on at a permanent basis since the mid-1990's without anyone blowing the whistle? The purpose of the conspiracy is also unclear. Is it geo-engineering to cool down the weather and hence avert climate change? If so, it doesn't seem to be working very well! Besides, since when does the John Birch Society believe in climate change? Another theory is population control. But if so, why not spray Third World nations instead? As for the population of the United States, it isn't contracting, suggesting that the conspiracy has failed. In sum, the Chemtrails conspiracy theory sound both far-fetched and illogical.
At the same time, I can understand why conspiracy theories of this kind may arise. The U.S. military seems to have been involved in a long range of bizarre, secretive operations during the Cold War, including tests of germs and LSD on involuntary subjects. MK-Ultra is another classic in the genre. These tests were classified for decades. According to Wikipedia, the conspiracy theories about Chemtrails were inspired by a speculative, futurist study published by the U.S. Air Force! The study apparently speculated about the military applications of weather modification.
To sceptics, this proves that Chemtrails is a hoax. Personally, I consider it somewhat chilling that a conspiracy theory peddled by the John Birch Society is partially based on a techno-maniac report published by the U.S. military itself?!
It's almost as if the conspiracy theorists were feeding on the lunacy of the real world...
I'm not sure if that counts as reassuring.
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