HEADQUARTERS AIR COMMAND
RAF Business Secretariat 3
Spitfire Block
Royal Air Force
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP14 4UE
Ms Berenice John
By Email
Our Ref:
06-03-2009-130812-008
30 March 2009
Dear Ms John
Thank you for your email of 4 March 2009. I am replying as this is an area for which I have
responsibility. You requested information on whether MOD hold documentation which clarifies
‘chemtrails’ and whether the MOD undertake spraying of chemicals into the atmosphere from
military aircraft. This has been considered as a request for information in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I have been unable to locate any information which clarifies ‘Chemtrails’. I am also unable to
locate any information that confirms that aircraft are carrying or releasing any noxious airborne
chemicals into the atmosphere. It is certainly the case that our military aircraft have neither
been tasked to, nor possess any equipment that enables them to release chemicals deliberately
into the atmosphere that might create ‘chemtrails’. The exception being the Red Arrows who
release coloured smoke, purely for visual effect, whilst completing Air Displays.
I am able to advise that contrails are water vapour condensation trails which are sometimes
produced by civil and military aircraft engine exhaust when at higher altitudes. The main
products of fuel combustion are carbon dioxide and water vapour. At high altitudes water
vapour emerges into a cold environment. The vapour then condenses into millions of tiny water
droplets or ice crystals which form the vapour trail or contrail. These occur especially when
there is a combination of high humidity and low temperatures. If a contrail is formed in air that is
already saturated with water vapour it will then persist and appear to grow – in some
circumstances numbers of separate contrails may merge to produce a thin cloud or overcast.
We are not aware of any concerns raised by the scientific community about the potential effects
of contrails from aircraft. There is no credible evidence that they are intentional or that they are
contaminated other then by aircraft exhaust gases and particulates which consist mostly of
water and Carbon Dioxide. You may be interested to know that the Department for Transport
has sponsored research in contrails and their effect on the environment. A major international
scientific meeting in 2006 (see
http://www.pa.op.dlr.de/tac/) which presented significant new
research on the subject. Their main conclusion was that “The elemental composition [of jet
exhaust vapours] indicates that these particles are mainly composed of carbon, with a few
oxygen and traces of sulphur”.
If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the
handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution
is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal
review by contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 6th Floor, MOD Main Building,
Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-ma
il [email address]). Please note that any request for an internal
review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal
resolution has come to an end.
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the
Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information
Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD
internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the
Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website,
http://www.ico.gov.uk.
I hope that this information is useful
Yours sincerely
[signed]
RAF Bus Sec 3
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