From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

I note that we now have a Chemtrails category in the "Post New Message" page. This is good. Thanks, Sysops. Please, post your Chemtrails information here. This thread should serve for more than just one day. For those who are unaware, there is a button at the top of the top level forum page which takes us to another view of the database. At New Answers you can see a chronological list of the most recent answers going back a week or so. We should be well able to find the the Chemtrails threads from that page.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 07, 1999

Answers

Response to Central Thread for Y2K Reports: Sightings, Articles and Commentary

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Making Sense Out of Paranoia In an Ever-Changing, Politically Treacherous World, Conspiracy Theories Offer the Best Answers for Some, by Steven T. Jones

[Altered thread title from Y2K to Chemtrails per poster request--Sysop]

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 07, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

The above article was sent to me by my mom, who lives in San Luis Obispo County which is served by New Times, the free newspaper where this story appeared. My mom had visited here over Thanksgiving and was treated to my own speculations about Chemtrails, after I pointed out some not too great chemtrails which I spotted just before she left on Friday. She was completely unconvinced, and I assume this article wouldn't help to change her mind in any way about that.

Here's what I have to say to "talk back" to this article:

What sociopolitical conditions have caused those theories to be embraced with such fervor, and what makes such elaborate belief structures seem quite reasonable?

Perhaps too many people are becoming aware of this country's long history of treating its citizens as lab animals in incidents such as the Tuskeegee "Experiment." Maybe we don't necessarily believe that somebody on the inside will speak up when they witness an injustice, after we view tapes of the Rodney King beatings that came to light well after the incident. Could it be that some of us are learning to rely on our own senses, rather than allowing "authorities" to define what we perceive? OK. To Mr. Jones' credit, he went on to answer this question using just such examples as these.

Her descriptions transform the clouds into living enemies as they stretch out over the sky, reach out and grab one another, stack top of each other, crawl in over the horizon, descend upon making us ill.

It would be interesting to hear what she actually said.

"I think it would be highly unlikely that someone would disperse a chemical at 10,000 feet with the intention of it reaching the ground," Allen said.

Yet such evidence does little to crack an intensely held set of beliefs.

Well It's gotta come down some time!

Thomas admits he has not established a direct link between chemical contrails and outbreaks of disease, only an anecdotal one. Which begs the question: Are people seeing and feeling what their belief systems would have them see and feel?

How do we explain the Salinas local TV news report of the hospitals being full with a mysterious illness and that the San Jose hospitals were experiencing similar overcrowding? They did not tie the incidents to spraying, but chemtrail watchers complained at certain internet sites that there had been some recent heavy spray days. In my own case, my son got extremely ill on those same days, and we never even heard of chemtrails until weeks later.

those who believe come mostly from dissatisfied groups looking for power and for answers to life's complicated problems.

 like Y2K?

"Conspiracy theory is a skeptical, paranoid, obsessive practice of scanning for signs and sifting through bits of evidence for the missing link," Stewart writes.

That sounds like what we do, here.

potential cause and explanation behind those who promote conspiracy theories: deliberate self-interest.

I, for one, am not making any money by offering my opinions on this or any other topic. I'm not saying that to do so is wrong, only that those who insinuate that I have some ulterior motive for expressing myself about this are wrong about that.

Steven T. Jones actually died in 1998 during a freak plane crash in clear weather east of Creston. We said at the time that he had taken a job in Monterey. A few months later we started to get articles, allegedly by him.

I don't know quite what to make of this. Did the New Times investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of their reporter? Why did they say that he had taken a job in Monterey? When did they find out that he had died? Was it perhaps a different Steven T. Jones who died or who is writing these articles? Is anybody being paid for this article? Is this just an amusing way to end a conspiracy article?

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 07, 1999.

It turns out the "About" page for this newspaper lists Steven T. Jones as one of two staff writers. I wrote to him at sjones@newtimesslo.com to invite him to visit this page to view any commentary which may appear here about his article.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), December 07, 1999.