Posted on 12/07/2002 1:51:22 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
An unusually long contrail running east to west across the horizon this morning had some people concerned, but officials said it was a normal aircraft phenomenon.
"Contrails spread out like this many times," said Eric Schminke, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Wichita.
What happens, he said, is that as some planes cruise in altitudes of 35,000 to 38,000 feet high, particularly in colder weather, their contrails can be pushed along and spread out by the jet stream, which can sometimes average 110 to 125 knots.
"That happens a lot," Schminke said. "It's not like we are being invaded by outer space. I think what's happened is that people are quite hyper-sensitive to all the threats on terrorism. These long contrails are fairly common."
The power grid was flickering due to the unusually high shortwave traffic.
"I see contrails."
First: Unusually long contrail has some worried
THEN :"These long contrails are fairly common."
Don't take too long.
I'm searching for a "black helicopter" article right now.
Wouldn't want you to miss it.
I was initially interested in the subject because I had seen so many of these things over Tampa. It occurred to me that, were I not self employed and working strange hours, I never would have noticed them.
I remember as a kid laying on my grandmother's front lawn and gazing up at the jets flying over each evening, and noticing how real contrails frustrated me with their rather quick dissipation. Sometimes under the right conditions they would linger, but never spread out and descend heavily towards the ground.
"Contrails" are so named because they are "condensation trails" ... trials of condensed water vapor resulting from the passage of moist air over the wings of a fast-moving aircraft. They are basically man-made clouds. Telling, isn't it, how these new, strange trails behave so differently(?)
Well "black helicopters" just turned up John McCain flying around the Mexican border!
Helicopter ride above international border gives congressmen perspective on borderlands
Perhaps you aren't as old as I, but when I was a child there weren't that many jets, and the planes didn't fly as high as they do now.
I really couldn't care what color the military paints it's aircraft. (I'm thinking that black is probably a good color to use at night.)
The reality is that the issue of the color of the helicopter is a red herring thrown out to evade a discussion of the *REAL* issue, which is why our government people would make use of unmarked vehicles - which is tantamount to a law enforcment officer not wearing any insignia or showing any badge.
The answer to that is "accountability". If you can't identify who it is who arrested you in the middle of the night then you have very little chance of defending yourself against misuse of authority (or exacting revenge, for that matter).
But, heck, we're all shallow American's here...so let's confine our attention to the color of the airplane and other superficial nonsense.
NATO summit security overkill a little taste of what's to come?
Well, to be more specific that was during the days of the Cuban missile crisis, when many eyes happened to be looking skyward. I recall seeing plenty of jets, both commercial and military.
Contrails are formed by water vapor in the exhaust from jet engines. Aerodynamic contrails are caused by vortices trailing from an airfoil. The contrails we see from the surface of the earth are caused by the engine exhaust, not the airfoil. The longevity of a contrail is dependent upon the air temperature and humidity at the altitude the plane is flying at. Sailors even forecast the weather in a rudimentary fashion by observing the pattern and longevity of contrails.
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