Why the chemtrail conspiracy theory lingers and grows – and why Tucker Carlson is talking about it

Calum Lister Matheson, University of Pittsburgh Everyone has looked up at the clouds and seen faces, animals, objects. Human brains are hardwired for this kind of whimsy. But some people – perhaps a surprising number – look to the sky and see government plots and wicked deeds written there. Conspiracy theorists say that contrails – long streaks of condensation left by aircraft – are actually chemtrails, clouds of chemical or biological agents dumped on the unsuspecting public for nefarious purposes. Different motives are ascribed, from weather control to mass poisoning. The chemtrails theory has circulated since 1996, when conspiracy theorists misinterpreted a U.S. Air Force research paper about weather modification, a valid topic of research. Social media and conservative news outlets have since magnified the conspiracy theory. One recent study notes that X, formerly Twitter, is a particularly active node of this “broad online community of conspiracy.” I’m a communications researcher who studies conspiracy theories. The thoroughly debunked chemtrails theory provides a textbook example of how conspiracy theories work.

Boosted into the stratosphere

Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, whose podcast averages over a million viewers per episode, recently interviewed Dane Wigington, a longtime opponent of what he calls “geoengineering.” While the interview has been extensively discredited and mocked in other media coverage, it is only one example of the spike in chemtrail belief. Although chemtrail belief spans the political spectrum, it is particularly evident in Republican circles. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has professed his support for the theory. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has written legislation to ban chemical weather control, and many state legislatures have done the same. Online influencers with millions of followers have promoted what was once a fringe theory to a large audience. It finds a ready audience among climate change deniers and anti-deep state agitators who fear government mind control.

Heads I win, tails you lose

Although research on weather modification is real, the overwhelming majority of qualified experts deny that the chemtrail theory has any solid basis in fact. For example, geoengineering researcher David Keith’s lab posted a blunt statement on its website. A wealth of other resources exist online, and many of their conclusions are posted at contrailscience.com. But even without a deep dive into the science, the chemtrail theory has glaring logical problems. Two of them are falsifiability and parsimony.

According to psychologist Rob Brotherton, conspiracy theories have a classic “heads I win, tails you lose” structure. Conspiracy theorists say that chemtrails are part of a nefarious government plot, but its existence has been covered up by the same villains. If there was any evidence that weather modification was actually happening, that would support the theory, but any evidence denying chemtrails also supports the theory – specifically, the part that alleges a cover-up. People who subscribe to the conspiracy theory consider anyone who confirms it to be a brave whistleblower and anyone who denies it to be foolish, evil or paid off. Therefore, no amount of information could even hypothetically disprove it for true believers. This denial makes the theory nonfalsifiable, meaning it’s impossible to disprove. By contrast, good theories are not false, but they must also be constructed in such a way that if they were false, evidence could show that. Nonfalsifiable theories are inherently suspect because they exist in a closed loop of self-confirmation. In practice, theories are not usually declared “false” based on a single test but are taken more or less seriously based on the preponderance of good evidence and scientific consensus. This approach is important because conspiracy theories and disinformation often claim to falsify mainstream theories, or at least exploit a poor understanding of what certainty means in scientific methods. Like most conspiracy theories, the chemtrail story tends not to meet the criteria of parsimony, also known as Occam’s razor, which suggests that the more suppositions a theory requires to be true, the less likely it actually is. While not perfect, this concept can be an important way to think about probability when it comes to conspiracy theories. Is it more likely that the government is covering up a massive weather program, mind-control program or both that involve thousands or millions of silent, complicit agents, from the local weather reporter to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or that we’re seeing ice crystals from plane engines? Of course, calling something a “conspiracy theory” does not automatically invalidate it. After all, real conspiracies do exist. But it’s important to remember scientist and science communicator Carl Sagan’s adage that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” In the case of chemtrails, the evidence just isn’t there.

Psychology of conspiracy theory belief

If the evidence against it is so powerful and the logic is so weak, why do people believe the chemtrail conspiracy theory? As I have argued in my new book, “Post-Weird: Fragmentation, Community, and the Decline of the Mainstream,” conspiracy theorists create bonds with each other through shared practices of interpreting the world, seeing every detail and scrap of evidence as unshakable signs of a larger, hidden meaning. Uncertainty, ambiguity and chaos can be overwhelming. Conspiracy theories are symptoms, ad hoc attempts to deal with the anxiety caused by feelings of powerlessness in a chaotic and complicated world where awful things like tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires can happen seemingly at random for reasons that even well-informed people struggle to understand. When people feel overwhelmed and helpless, they create fantasies that give an illusion of mastery and control. Although there are liberal chemtrail believers, aversion to uncertainty might explain why the theory has become so popular with Carlson’s audience: Researchers have long argued that authoritarian, right-wing beliefs have a similar underlying structure. On some level, chemtrail theorists would rather be targets of an evil conspiracy than face the limits of their knowledge and power, even though conspiracy beliefs are not completely satisfying. Sigmund Freud described a fort-da (“gone-here”) game played by his grandson where he threw away a toy and dragged it back on a string, something Freud interpreted as a simulation of control when the child had none. Conspiracy theories may serve a similar purpose, allowing their believers to feel that the world isn’t really random and that they, the ones who see through the charade, really have some control over it. The grander the conspiracy, the more brilliant and heroic the conspiracy theorists must be. Conspiracies are dramatic and exciting, with clear lines of good and evil, whereas real life is boring and sometimes scary. The chemtrail theory is ultimately prideful. It’s a way for theorists to feel powerful and smart when they face things beyond their comprehension and control. Conspiracy theories come and go, but responding to them in the long term means finding better ways to embrace uncertainty, ambiguity and our own limits alongside a new embrace of the tools we do have: logic, evidence and even humility. Calum Lister Matheson, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Pittsburgh This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Last Updated on October 11, 2025 by Daily News Staff

In the spring of 1953, the quiet desert town of Kingman, Arizona, became the center of one of UFO history’s most debated mysteries. At the height of the Cold War, witnesses claimed that something unusual fell from the desert sky. What followed has fueled speculation for decades—connecting the small Arizona town to America’s most secretive base, Area 51.

The Crash in the Desert

According to reports, an unidentified craft was said to have crashed near Kingman in May 1953. Local accounts suggested that the U.S. military quickly secured the site, transporting the wreckage under tight secrecy. For years, however, this alleged event remained little more than rumor, blending into the larger backdrop of Cold War fears and secrecy.

Area 51 and the Alleged Cover-Up

The story took on new life when claims surfaced that the wreckage had been moved to Area 51, the highly restricted military base in Nevada long associated with UFO lore. At the time, the base itself was shrouded in secrecy, making it fertile ground for speculation about what the government might be hiding.

Bill Uhouse and “J-Rod”

The most astonishing claims didn’t appear until 1998, when retired military engineer Bill Uhouse stepped forward. Uhouse alleged that the U.S. government not only recovered alien technology but also encountered a living extraterrestrial being. He referred to this being as “J-Rod” and claimed it worked alongside American scientists to unlock the secrets of advanced propulsion systems.

If true, this collaboration would mark one of the most extraordinary events in modern history—bridging human science with extraterrestrial knowledge. Skeptics, however, point out the lack of verifiable evidence and suggest the story may be a product of Cold War imagination.

A Mystery That Endures

Like many UFO stories from the mid-20th century, the Kingman crash remains steeped in uncertainty. Did a spacecraft really come down in the Arizona desert? Was J-Rod a real extraterrestrial presence, or simply another chapter in the long saga of Cold War secrecy and speculation?

What is certain is that the Kingman UFO crash continues to spark curiosity, debate, and fascination—reminding us of how the lines between history, myth, and mystery can blur.

🔎 Related Topics

• The Roswell Incident of 1947 – History.com
• Inside Area 51 – National Geographic
• Cold War UFO Sightings – CIA Declassified Documents
• The Kingman UFO Crash – A Discreet Downed UFO That Slipped Under The Radar?
• Arizona UFO Crash – UFO Casebook

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Last Updated on October 6, 2025 by Daily News Staff

When Travis Walton vanished from an Arizona forest in 1975, the world was stunned. His story of being struck by a beam of light from a UFO and later reappearing after five days became one of the most famous alien abduction cases in history. Nearly two decades later, Hollywood brought his story to the big screen in the 1993 film Fire in the Sky.

But how much of the movie matched Walton’s actual testimony?

The Real Testimony: Travis Walton’s Experience

In Walton’s own words, detailed in his book The Walton Experience:

He and six coworkers saw a glowing disc-shaped UFO while driving through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Walton approached and was struck by a beam of light, vanishing before their eyes. He later recalled waking inside a clean, metallic room. He first encountered short, large-eyed beings — similar to the classic “greys.” After panicking, he was met by taller, human-like beings who guided him silently through the craft. He blacked out again and awoke days later on the roadside as the UFO departed.

Walton’s description was eerie and confusing, but not grotesque.

The Hollywood Version: Fire in the Sky (1993)

The film’s abduction sequence became infamous for its nightmarish visuals:

Walton awakens in a slimy cocoon-like environment, unlike the clean metallic room he described. He discovers corpses wrapped in membranes — a pure Hollywood invention. The aliens are depicted as grotesque, insect-like creatures rather than the greys or human-like beings Walton reported. Walton is violently restrained on a table while aliens perform invasive procedures, including a chilling needle-to-the-eye scene.

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The movie leaned heavily into horror, turning Walton’s mysterious account into a terrifying cinematic ordeal.

What Was Real vs. Fiction

Accurate in the Film:

Walton struck by a beam of light and vanishing. His coworkers sticking to their story and passing polygraphs. Walton reappearing days later, shaken and disoriented.

Invented for Hollywood:

Cocoon-like interiors and human corpses. Alien torture and invasive experiments. Insect-like, monstrous alien designs. The extreme horror atmosphere.

Walton’s View

Travis Walton himself has stated that while Fire in the Sky captured the drama of his disappearance, it distorted the abduction itself. He called the film’s alien sequence “Hollywood horror” and emphasized that his real experience, though frightening, was not sadistic or grotesque.

The Lasting Legacy

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Today, the Travis Walton UFO incident remains one of the most debated abduction cases ever. Fire in the Sky introduced the story to millions but also blurred the line between fact and fiction. For Walton, the truth was strange enough — and far less like a nightmare than Hollywood imagined.

🔗 Related External Reading

• Travis Walton UFO Incident – Wikipedia

• Interview with Travis Walton – Coast to Coast AM

• The Walton Experience Book on Amazon

• Fire in the Sky (1993) – IMDb

• Skeptical Inquirer: The Travis Walton Abduction Revisited (searchable article, skeptical perspective)

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