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From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

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Thumbnail for March 17, 1999: Chemtrails - Linda Moulton Howe & William Thomas

March 17, 1999: Chemtrails - Linda Moulton Howe & William Thomas

Mar 17, 1999
2h 55m
Linda Moulton HoweWilliam Thomas
0:00 / 0:00
Linda Moulton Howe and investigative journalist William Thomas join Art Bell for a two-part investigation into chemtrails, anomalous contrails, and silver-sphere reports across the United States. Howe reports witnessing massive X-shaped trails over Sedona, Arizona, and interviews an Albuquerque resident who observed through binoculars a silver sphere moving within a contrail before shooting straight upward at extraordinary speed. Art connects this to his own sighting of a silver disc in a contrail two years earlier and a matching photograph from Missouri.

Investigative journalist William Thomas then presents his findings from eight weeks of research spanning 43 states and over 400 witnesses. He explains that KC-135 and KC-10 tanker aircraft have been identified laying persistent trails that spread into overcast skies rather than dissipating like normal contrails. A signed letter from Major General Barlow confirms these tankers operate below contrail-forming altitudes. Thomas describes witnesses observing trails being switched on and off and substances falling as gel-like material.

Thomas reveals lab results from researcher Joe Burton showing amino acid poisons and trifluoronitrosomethane, an ingredient in EPA-registered pesticides, along with ethylene dibromide found in fuel samples. He references congressional investigations confirming decades of open-air biological and chemical testing on American cities, drawing parallels between current symptoms and Gulf War illness.

Key Moments

  1. Giant X over Sedona, then a covered sky: Linda Moulton Howe describes watching a single high-altitude silver plane lay a perfect, enormous white X across the blue sky in Sedona, then seeing more Xs and a fully overcast desert sky within hours - the moment she became personally convinced something deliberate was happening.

  2. Silver sphere moving inside a contrail: Albuquerque listener Matthew Durand describes watching through binoculars a small perfectly round silver sphere moving inside a freshly laid contrail, then sitting motionless between two parallel contrails for minutes before shooting straight up out of sight.

  3. Misaligned nozzles dropping goop: William Thomas explains that what's normally meant to be aerosolized has, in cases like the White Mountains of Arizona, Hot Springs Arkansas, and Oakville Washington, come down as a jelly-like goop - apparently a malfunction of misaligned spray nozzles.

  4. Human DNA in the Oakville goop: Thomas reveals that the gelatinous substance that fell on Oakville, Washington and made Unsolved Mysteries was tested and found to contain human DNA, along with Pseudomonas fluorescens and an enterobacteria - the kind of pathogen linked to blood disease in humans.