Yesterday's Sonoma sky

The Spiritual Nature of Chemtrail Belief

Victoria Hardy

source

June 04, 2008

I tend to watch forums and message boards and I am often taken aback by how quickly the debunkers arrive when someone mentions chemtrails or aerosol spraying, like ants at a picnic they appear in force. And the most amusing card in the debunkers bag of tricks is the statement that since the beginning of air travel the lines have littered our skies, we just never looked up. The world has grown more complex with the advent and popularity of the Internet and we suddenly have the ability to explore thousands of possibilities for any one situation, but even though the possibilities seem endless, there is only one truth.

As I have stated previously from the first time I noticed a trail being unleashed across the sky my mind shifted into metaphysical thinking and looking back, it felt like I was witnessing a blurring of realities. As I stood in the yard that day, rather stunned, I felt an instinctual grip of fear in my belly and the sure knowledge that what I was witnessing was simply not right. And in the first weeks of my newfound awareness I couldn´t help but wonder why others were not standing on the streets and pointing out the aberration. And even now, despite the trails showing up on commercials and television shows and despite the myriad of explanations, my mind still refuses to budge from the idea that the writing in the sky is telling us something important, something spiritual.

The possible explanations for the billowing plumes released behind the mysterious white planes and the clouding of our skies run from harmless water vapor to benevolent protection from the sun´s harmful rays to an insidious and secret plot of depopulation and everything in between. But for me, I believe we are seeing the signs spoken of by the ancient prophets. It seems, as we grow more educated in this country such antiquated notions as prophecies are quickly dismissed as ridiculous fairy tales and many of us have learned to discount our own instincts in favor of an expert´s opinion. We have been taught since preschool to look to our teachers or nearest authority figure to tell us what to think and how to behave and we tend to trust that dynamic. We have been well trained to look to our leaders, be they our peers, professors, bosses, scientists, politicians, doctors, newspapers or the television and know, without questioning, that what is being relayed to us is the truth. And we have been well instructed not to trust our own instincts, not to trust the words of those who lived and died before us and not to trust the wisdom of our own elders. But I believe those suddenly confronting the change in our skies are watching the old hierarchy, the old standards, begin to crumble.

The time of change is upon us and the ribbons in the sky are one of the signs we have been warned to expect, so the debates still raging across the Internet have grown tiresome to me, a distraction. The simple truth of the matter is that some look to the sky, see the trails and feel an instinctual concern, while others see them and declare that it is a natural progression of increased air traffic. Over the years I´ve heard chemtrail believers referred to as insane, ignorant or deliberately trying to instill fear in others and many months ago I created a survey attempting to understand the common thread that connects those who feel undeniable concern when witnessing the webs dripping in our skies. Looking back, it was quite an arrogant assumption on my part that I could discern a truth no one else could see, but I settled on the floor with my research looking for the elusive connecting strand.

I walked away with just under 200 completed surveys, mostly filled out by believers in the chemtrail phenomenon, with a small group filled out by non-believers. I asked a myriad of seemingly unrelated questions about prescriptions, faith, creative endeavors, health, schooling and paranormal experiences. I also included a few essay questions to better understand the emotions experienced by those disturbed by the lines in the sky. I divided the surveys into believers and non-believers and for simplicities sake that is how I will refer to the opposing sides as I reveal my findings.

I will start with prescription medications because I have often heard the idea expressed that those who believe in chemtrails are insane, so I was curious how many were actually on anti-psychotic pharmaceuticals. What I found was that 62% of believers and 76% of non-believers claim to consume no prescription medications at all and for those who do on both sides of the coin, blood pressure and cholesterol medications were the most common, followed by anti-depressants and sleeping medications for the 9% of believers and allergy and asthma drugs for 6% of non-believers.

As far as education goes 29% of the non-believers have spent 6 or more years pursuing a degree, compared to 10% of believers. 35% of non-believers have spent 4 years seeking higher learning compared to 22% of believers. 12% of non-believers sought out a 2 year degree compared to 9% of believers and 24% of non-believers claim to have spent only some time in college compared to 31% of believers. 9% of believers have a technical or trade school degree and 13% pursued formal education no further than high school.



Next we´ll move on to faith and belief systems, of the believers 39% are Christian, 11% agnostic, 18% atheist and 31% were scattered across the board from simply spiritual to Universalism to a belief in a creator. Of the non-believers 24% are Christian, 12% agnostic and 65% atheist. 65% of the believers understand that life continues after death and 24% of non-believers hold that same opinion.

69% of believers and 65% of non-believers watch either no TV or less than 7 hours a week. 45% of believers enjoy outdoor gardening and 24% of non-believers share the same pastime. Of the believers 24% reside in the city, 37% the suburbs and 37% live in a rural setting. Of the non-believers 47% live in the city, 23% the suburbs and 29% in a rural area. And 68% of believers and 64% of non-believers claim to have had a happy childhood. 62% of believers pursue music, writing or art as creative endeavors as do 53% of non-believers.

35% of believers and 29% of non-believers have seen a UFO in the lifetime. 38% of believers and 12% of non-believers have some sort of psychic ability or report having had prophetic dreams. 44% of believers and 29% of non-believers experience vivid dreaming. 16% of believers have survived a near death experience and 17% have seen a ghost. 58% of believers have undergone surgery, been hospitalized or are living with a chronic condition, compared to 35% of non-believers.

39% of believers report becoming aware of chemtrails in the years between 2004 and 2007, 26% became aware of the marks in the sky between 2000 and 2003, 27% say they first saw the trails in the 1990s and 3% believe they saw them even earlier. 59% of believers saw a chemtrail before they had heard the rumors and debates about the lines in the sky and 72% felt that seeing the lines changed them in some way. Many reported that after noticing the activity over head they became more alert and aware of their surroundings, they also grew to distrust the government. Others state they are more grateful for life and have become better people. Some respondents say they began questioning the official line more often, while others started investigating the phenomenon, posting videos and a few created their own websites to call attention to the activity. Many spoke of sadness, depression, fear and shock and several mentioned questioning their sanity because those around them did not seem concerned. A couple reported losing friends after speaking out about the subject.

When asked what the respondents believed the aerosol spray was being used to accomplish the answers varied from weather modification, mind control, dispersing biological material, unauthorized experimentation on the biosphere and preventing global warming. Others thought the lines in the sky were being used to accommodate military communications and enhanced radar capabilities, scalar and space weaponry and weather warfare. Many felt the trails were being used to control the population and increase the need for pharmaceuticals and medical care. Some believe they are being used to make us more apathetic, uncaring and emotionally numb. A couple folks suggested chemtrails were being used to alter the soil so that we are only able to grow genetically modified seeds. Several believed that the trails in the sky create a perfect backdrop for holographic imagery and will be used in Project Blue Beam. And a few believe that the hazy skies are being used to block our view of the heavens for some nefarious reason and others feel it is to prevent us from receiving the healing energy from the sun.

So there you have it, a completely informal survey done by a writer, not a scientist. I´ve always sensed the difference between those who see chemtrails and those who see contrails lay in the realm of spirituality and this small sampling lends credence to the idea. Of course, the non-believers will claim this survey proves exactly what they have said all along, that they are more educated than the believers and their education trumps the instinct of the believer. But the ancients left us the knowledge that there would be signs in the sky, ribbons or white snakes would unfurl over our heads and webs would appear marring our view of the heavens and they warned that these signs indicated change. And although it is said that no man knows the date or time, the season of change will be clear for those with eyes to see. So do we choose to trust those that insist the marring of our sky is just a harmless expression of living in modern times or do we trust our own instincts and those that warned of this obvious display hundreds and thousands of years ago?