Gaze up at the sky on any clear day and you'll likely see it streaked with the white lines left behind from jets as they pass overhead on their way to destinations all over the world. Sometimes, you may see them fade almost immediately as the airplane moves out of eyesight. Other times, they hover in the sky, growing larger. Occasionally, the entire sky becomes a grid of these strange smokey clouds. You may have heard conspiracy theorists on social media refer to them as chemtrails, but they're actually called contrails. If you've caught yourself wondering what exactly causes them, and whether there is any validity to the chemtrail conspiracy theories, you're certainly not alone.
The conspiracy theories around contrails have been around for a while, but recently they've been gaining popularity thanks to certain influencers fond of spreading misinformation online. According to the theories, "chemtrails" are the result of someone (in most cases the blame is placed on the government) spraying harmful chemicals from airplanes for all sorts of nefarious purposes. Some believe they are part of an elaborate plan to control the weather, while others claim they are to control or reduce the population.