Conn-trails Conn-spiracy?

As with most blog posts, it starts with a story — in this case, this one from the New London Day regarding unusually heavy contrail activity in the skies over southern Connecticut last Saturday.

For those of you who don’t know, contrails (short for “condensation trails”) are those white lines of water vapor that form behind high-altitude jets — look up on any given clear day at any time, and no doubt you can easily spot one, if not multiple one. Chances are that you’re so used to seeing them that you don’t even notice them in the sky any more.

Apparently however, this past weekend, there was an inordinate number of them in the Connecticut skies due to a backup of air traffic following a runway closure at Kennedy Airport in New York, so many so that people actually noticed! Enough so that it even made the news and the intrawebs.

Of course, contrails already have a bit of a history on the internet — they are a popular conspiracy theory! Essentially, there are people out there who believe that rather than simple water vapor, contrails — also known as chemtrails (“chemical trails”) — are evidence of the government (who else?) spraying special mixtures or biological agents from great heights on an unsuspecting public.

For what purpose, you ask? Apparently, everything from biological weaponry and population control to weather manipulation. I’m sure they are also somehow involved in global warming, the Kennedy Assassination, the faked moon landings and 9/11 being an inside job.

Speaking of 9/11, one of the things I’ll always remember were the two or three days afterward, how quiet the skies were. No planes, no helicopters, and definitely no con- or chemtrails. Here in Connecticut that week, the weather was clear, so it was very surreal to be looking to the skies (which we all were doing repeatedly) and not see . . . anything.

Not surprisingly, the contrail conspiracy has been busted in numerous places, including “Mythbusters” and USA Today.

Still, I’m sure now that you’ve read this, the next time you’re outside and look up, you’ll be thinking, “Hmm …”