Dozens of vapour trails spotted in the sky above North Wales could provide evidence of “chemtrails”, according to some readers.

Conspiracy theorists claim so-called “chemtrails” (a mix of the word chemical and trails) are chemical or biological agents deliberately sprayed for purposes undisclosed to the general public.

The Daily Post article caused a stir on the internet with more than 400,000 clicking on the story on our website,

It also garnered hundreds of comments with many claiming the pictures showed evidence of a wider conspiracy.

Despite expert evidence to the contrary, some continue to believe the trails are part of a global conspiracy.

Trails from aircraft over North Wales
Trails from aircraft over North Wales

The theory first gained popularity in 1996 when the United States Air Force were accused of spraying the US population with mysterious substances from aircraft generating unusual contrail patterns.

But experts have been swift to de-bunk the claims and say the vapour is a regular occurrence among jet aircraft.

On Tuesday morning dozens of trails were visible in the sky over North Wales, despite the fact that no aircraft was visible on any flight-tracking websites such as FlightRadar or PlaneFinder.


But according to website Aviation Wales. the vapours were left behind by F15 Strike Eagles which regularly train in the skies over the region.

They do not appear on flight-tracking websites as it is a security issue.

Air chemist Dr Gavin Phillips, who is senior lecturer in the Department of Natural Sciences at the University of Chester, said: “The long thin clouds, or contrails, that form behind the flight path of aircraft are caused by water vapour in the jet engine exhaust condensing as ice in very cold air.

“Sometimes the water vapour can condense onto particles of pollution emitted from the jet engine.

“They have been known to persist for many hours.

“When I lived in Alaska, and when it was cold enough, I saw the cars leave contrails.


“Long-lived contrails are of interest to scientists studying the climate as they can affect the amount of sunlight reaching the lower atmosphere and therefore how much heat the earth is absorbing.”
