Nothing but blue skies: Conspiracy theorists laud US government shutdown

WASHINGTON – With federal services crippled on Oct 10, the US government shutdown has one unexpected perk, according to believers in the long-debunked “chemtrails” conspiracy theory – “clear” skies.

“Best thing about government shutdowns: no chemtrails,” Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie wrote on Instagram.

“Ever since we had the government shutdown, there has been zero chemtrails. I haven’t seen the sky this clear in decades,” a Los Angeles-based artist says in a reel watched 1.7 million times.

The trend is symptomatic of now-normalised conspiratorial discourse about weather control in the United States.

Chemtrails is a scientifically-unsound theory mistaking condensation trails emanating from aircraft as a government programme “spraying” toxic chemicals in the sky to manipulate the weather.

In 2025, state legislatures have doubled down on efforts to block all geoengineering and local weather research programmes, moves that risk jeopardising scientific innovation.

“As of October 1st, Florida’s airports are closed to any weather modification activities,” the state’s Attorney-General James Uthmeier said on X, in the latest push on the matter.

But comments under the post show people questioning why they still observe trails of clouds in the sky.

Others appeal to Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis with footage of white trials, some positing the activities are being carried out by “private rogue companies and evil billionaires”.

The state now allows residents to report “suspected weather modification” and “geoengineering” activities.

Professor Holly Buck, who teaches environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo, said people “invested in this idea of atmospheric manipulation” will view current events through that same prism.

“In a sense, we are all analysing the impact of the shutdown through the lens of things we care about”, and conspiracy theorists make no exception, she said. AFP