What is a Contrail?

Featured: CBS KPHO 5 News Story – What are Chemtrails?

CBS KPHO 5 recently tackled the growing concern about contrails in our skies. Certain groups fear that they contain harmful chemicals and are somehow related a global government conspiracy. After some research on their own, CBS KPHO 5’s Pat McReynolds called upon aviation expert Chad J. Verdaglio, President of Sawyer Aviation.

He easily explained that, “Contrails are simply jet exhaust and can only be seen when there is a higher relative dew point in the atmosphere.” If contrails contained an unnatural substance then they would be seen every day, but they are absent on many dry days in Arizona. Similar to how you can see your breath on a cold day, contrails are condensed water vapor from jet engine exhaust.

It doesn’t take much to realize that jet engine exhaust is extremely hot during flight, reaching temperatures of 620 °C – 1,000 °C (comparable to the temperatures inside a crematorium). This temperature will incinerate any biological substance and reduce most chemical substance to ash.

So the next time you are looking at an Arizona sunset, made even more spectacular by the presence of contrails; you can rest assured that there is nothing more being added to the sky, other than a great view.