If you opted for the window seat on an airplane, it’s probably because you enjoy looking down at the Earth from the clouds. Hopefully, you won’t see a gremlin tearing the wing off like William Shatner in “The Twilight Zone.” One passenger looked out and photographed an odd contrail shadow on the ground.
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If you smiled at that shadow line and thought, “Yep, definitely aliens,” we can’t help you. You’ll need to contact Giorgio A. Tsoukalos from “Ancient Aliens.” To understand the shadow line, we need to understand contrails.
Merriam-Webster defines contrails as “a stream of visible water or ice particles created in the air by an airplane or rocket at high altitudes.” Because the water vapor in a contrail is opaque, it can create a shadow on the ground. Contrail shadows may be visible under sunlight or moonlight. Contrails may dissipate at different rates depending on the air temperature.
Conspiracy theories about contrails pop up every day. Some people call them “chemtrails” and insist that they are full of harmful chemicals that the government is seeding the sky with. They have a million horror stories about what the chemicals are doing to humans, some of which proclaim that chemtrails cause mass sterilization or mind control. Sadly, enough people believe these conspiracy theories that some state legislatures are creating laws to ban them.
For most people, common sense prevails. Contrails can paint a beautiful design as airplanes crisscross the sky at different levels. If the sun or moon is in the correct position, contrails can create shadows on the ground. When moisture levels are high, light refraction can add rainbow colors to contrails.
Please share if you still think contrails are aliens.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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