--- title: "Crowd Cheers as RFK Jr. Says the Government Will Investigate “Chemtrails”" description: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the government will look into chemtrails, a nonsense conspiracy theory about planes controlling the weather." date: "2026-09-18" modified: "2026-09-18" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore.md" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/crowd-cheers-rfk-government-investigate-chemtrails" categories: - "Environment" - "Future Society" - "Science & Energy" --- # Crowd Cheers as RFK Jr. Says the Government Will Investigate “Chemtrails” ![Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. in front of airplane "chemtrails."]() *Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Shutterstock/Futurism* Just so you know where your leaders' priorities are at, US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the government will investigate "chemtrails" — a conspiracy theory held by people who would have you believe that the airplanes of the world are secretly seeding our skies with chemicals to change the weather, or maybe biological agents to keep the masses under control. Kennedy made this avowal while giving a keynote speech at none other than the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy nonprofit that he helped create (a newsworthy item in itself). Living up to the occasion, his speech was replete with crank ramblings and unproven health claims, but one aside stood out from all the others. "We're also looking at chemtrails at the impact of emissions," RFK wheezed, to a round of applause. He finishes his sentence. "Emissions from, um, aircraft, and those potential impacts on health." https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/2100651102622429657 It's a fully mask-off moment for the Kennedy scion, if he had any more masks left to remove. His appearance at the CHD shows a level of brazenness in his [anti-vaccine beliefs]() that he hasn't been quite as overt about since taking up his role as Trump's health secretary. Chemtrails are the cherry on top of all the madness. The term is from a long-held conspiracy theory that the trails that airplanes drag across the sky actually contain nefarious chemicals that're used for everything from population control to, most commonly, weather modification (delusional beliefs vary). That RFK is now treating the idea of chemtrails seriously shows how far off the conspiracy deep end he's gone — at least anti-vaxxers pretend their beliefs have basis in science — or perhaps how emboldened he feels to show his true colors. He previously [vowed]() to look into chemtrails last year; about a month later, the Environmental Protection Agency [formally debunked the conspiracy theory](). The reality is planes' visual residue are contrails, which are streaks of condensation created by jet engines from the interaction between the aircraft's hot exhaust — which is mostly just carbon dioxide and water vapor — and the cold atmosphere. It's the same reason that you see your breath on a cold day. There's nothing to investigate, and even if there was, it would make no sense for a figure like RFK to do it, since the conspiracy theory is that the government is perpetrating it and covering it up. Meanwhile, in the real world, RFK's stewardship of the US's health agencies has overseen the nation's worst measles outbreak in over three decades, which was almost certainly caused, at least in part, by the anti-vaccine rhetoric that he and other right wing figures have pushed. Pennsylvania, the epicenter of the outbreak, has recorded over 3,300 cases, with a [scandal brewing]() on how the RFK-led Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is refusing to count some measles deaths reported by Pennsylvania health officials. Yet Kennedy is still concerned with all this chemtrails nonsense — his head, in an almost literal sense, in the clouds. **More on the environment:** [*Data Centers Are Causing a Huge Surge in Incredibly Toxic Chemicals Polluting the World*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()