This is the best frame captured from the original VHS tape recorded at the time, from "live" NASA Select TV coverage of the STS-114 mission. Notice that the lines appear to enter, or go beneath, the cloud bank at top. There is NO WAY that jet contrails would be visible from this altitude without more magnification, and MUCH better focus. Imagine something only a few feet (or meters) wide being seen from over 220 miles (350 km) distance without benefit of optical aids. I think we can also rule out the possibility that these parallel lines are natural cloud. In all my years of watching televised space flight, never have I seen a natural cloud pattern similar to this.

It has been suggested that this pattern is a result of aerial spraying to destroy coca crops. That suggestion sounds reasonable on the surface but, when a little geographic fact is applied, it becomes void. Coca, the plant which upon certain processing yields cocain, is grown in the economically disadvantaged high valleys and plains of the Andes Mountain Range. These areas are primarily confined to Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. The climate there is cool and relatively dry. Venezuela, on the other hand, is low coastal plain. It is hot tropical rain forest, and not at all suited to the cultivation of coca.

A resident of Venezuela wrote to suggest that this pattern might be spray operations intended to dissipate an oil spill in Lake Maracaibo. Indeed, he indicated that this was a relatively common operation. Be that as it may, spraying of oil spills would NECESSARILY be a very LOW LEVEL operation, and highly LOCALISED! One cannot imagine that an oil spill would be dealt with from high altitude, and on such a wide scale. I think we can safely rule this out as a possibility to explain the pattern observed from space.

A second example of a jet contrail as seen from space using high powered lenses. Neither of the above in any way resemble the chemtrail pattern seen over Venezuela on 1 August 2005.

Please bear in mind that these contrails were taken from the same altitude of 220+ miles (350+ km) as the chemtrail sequence.

NASA PHOTO

This is a weather satellite photo of a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as a "Gravity Wave". It is characterized as being like the result of a pebble thrown into a quiet pool. I had a meteorology course at University back in 1976, and this effect was not taught then. I'm given to understand that the phenomenon was first described in a peer review magazine in 1975. More on atmospheric gravity waves HERE. In comparison with the chemtrail photo from STS-114, there are great differences. As can be seen above, the gravity waves wash over the surrounding cloud masses like ocean surf over a sand castle on the beach. They cover a vast area. They are not localised, nor do they appear UNDER the prevailing cloud deck. In this writer's opinion, the above does not explain the pattern seen from space.

Finally, we have the actual chemtrail sequence. As one can easily see, this is a large area which has been sprayed. Note that the trails stand out even with no telescopic magnification. Remember the examples of real contrails seen from space? These are much more prominent.

Some frames have been slowed down so that you may take a closer look.

Why Venezuela? There has been political hostility on the part of the US Government (Specifically the Bush-ler Administration) toward that oil rich nation in recent times. Could there be a connection? This writer obviously cannot say.

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Another example of Chemtrails as seen from orbit is from STS-107.

At all times during this incident, the camera was under the control of the INCO in Houston Mission Control.

(INCO - INstrument & Communication Officer - The man in Houston Mission Control Center who is responsible for operating the Shuttle payload bay, and robotic arm, cameras. He also remotely operates the helmet cameras in space suits. In the case of ISS, this officer is referred to as the CATO - Communications And Tracking Officer. In both cases, these persons CONTROL everything which is PERMITTED to go out on broadcast to the public. It is a commonly believed falacy that the cameras are operated by Astronauts & Cosmonauts on the Shuttles, and Space Station. Very little camera work is done by the crews. They're way too busy for that.)

When someone wants to argue with you that chem-trails are mere contrails, ask them "Where does all that MASS comes from then?" That's the key point in dismissing the contrail / ice crystal argument. MASS.

Imagine an old car that is burning oil due to bad piston rings. The blue cloud belching from its tailpipe IS nasty, but there isn't that much of it, and the cloud will dissipate rapidly. Can this car, by driving down one road through a small town, create a heavy blanket of smoke over the ENTIRE town? Of course not; there isn't enough MASS in that old car's exhaust. The same principle applies to chem-trails. Jet exhaust, known as a contrail, doesn't contain enough MASS to account for the phenomenon we call chemtrails.

For a more detailed discussion of the phenomenon, please click HERE.

At the end of the day, it's up to YOU to draw your own conclusions.

© 2005 Jeff Challender