Disinformation: Unusually shaped clouds in Australia represent chemtrails

A Facebook account published a post claiming that a 300-kilometer-long, unusually shaped cloud in Australia is a chemtrail. “How the media presents chemtrails to sleeping people,” we read in the caption. In reality, clouds of similar shapes are a natural phenomenon and have been observed in different regions of the world before (1, 2, 3).

On June 4, 2024, a horizontal, separated, and tube-shaped cloud mass stretching 300 km did indeed appear in the Australian sky. The Bureau of Meteorology of Australia explained that clouds of a similar shape, which is called Altocumulus Volutus by scientists, are a rare occurrence. Such a phenomenon occurs during a temperature inversion when the temperature of the air increases in the troposphere along with height instead of the usual decrease, and at the same time, the wind speed and direction change rapidly in a short period. Because of the temperature inversion, the air that begins to rise in the atmosphere and form clouds is cooler than the surrounding air, so it begins to sink into the lower atmosphere, forming flat-shaped clouds. On the other hand, a rapid change in wind speed and direction affects the upper layer of the cloud, and less on the lower layer, which leads to the tubular shape of the cloud.

After the appearance of the strangely shaped clouds, conspiracy posts about chemtrails also spread across Australia, which was fact-checked by the Australian fact-checking organization, AAP Factcheck. As a result of interviewing experts, it became clear that the long, horizontal cloud, which contained water droplets, was naturally formed. This was also confirmed by the Australian publication Coast Community News, according to which such clouds are unusual because many specific atmospheric conditions need to coincide for their formation, so people do not see such clouds frequently, although this does not mean that it is an "extraterrestrial phenomenon" or represents chemtrails. Similar disinformation about chemtrails has been spread in Australia before. During the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theorists claimed that the Australian government used chemtrails to forcibly vaccinate people, but such claims were easily checked and debunked.

Disinformation about the chemtrails conspiracy theory has been has been popular among certain groups since the 1990s and has been proven to be false many times. According to Harvard University David Keith's research group, there is no evidence of the use of chemtrails, and it is impossible to carry out such a large-scale project in secret, where the involvement of thousands or tens of thousands of people is required.

Therefore, the claim that the 300 km tubular cloud in Australia is a chemtrail is false.