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On 19 April 2016, the web site AnonHQ published an article that purported to show proof NASA admitted to spraying lithium into the atmosphere: The article then launched into assigning of purported motives for dosing Americans with lithium, a potent anti-manic psychiatric medication. From there, the article made its case for the existence of a NASA lithium spraying program (without any citations, and bearing a strong similarity to a previous hoax): Buried among the tinfoil were a few actual facts: that 2003 study does exist, but it studied aerosolized vaccines — i.e. ones that are inhaled as opposed to injected — and had nothing to do with dropping chemicals from planes. Another unrelated piece of proof offered up by the author was the widespread and well-documented efforts to combat the spread of West Nile virus by spraying insecticide, initiatives that targeted mosquitos, not humans. The excerpt also referenced GMO vaccines, a term we were unable to even define (a 1998 paper speculated on the promise of genetically engineered vaccines). Also included was a video titled NASA admits chemtrails, published to YouTube on 13 July 2013 (and purportedly recorded three days earlier): The clip (which had no video component, only audio) was purported to be a recorded phone call between a woman identified only as Sue and NASA astrophysicist Douglas Rowland. Sue brought up a video she watched in which lithium was mentioned, and the exchange that followed illustrated how the caller and the NASA scientist were carrying on entirely separate conversations. Sue fixated on the use of the word lithium as Rowland tried to explain NASA's study of the upper atmosphere, and why conditions there differed from those at lower altitudes: Between incorrectly framed data about unrelated studies of mass vaccination or West Nile virus spraying and the video, AnonHQ concluded that hopefully we’ve established that this IS happening, when neither the article nor video had established any such thing. What actually transpired was folks (one of whom harassed a NASA scientist and encouraged others to do the same) misinterpreted publicized scientific research to fit a pre-existing conspiracy theory. In the conversation between Rowland and Sue (during which portions were clearly elided) the only admissions made were those about the detail of upper atmosphere study, already publicly disclosed on a regular basis by NASA and linked in this article. The use of lithium in such research was neither a secret nor cause for concern. NASA published an article in January 2013 explaining its purpose, one of many highlighting projects of the nature Rowland discussed: NASA similarly reported the same sort of research in July 2011, in an openly-available article about the observation of lithium trails in the upper atmosphere: With all the focus conspiracy sites placed on NASA, none appeared to discover the agency's explanation of purpose for lithium in rocket launches (published in 1958 and available freely on the agency's web site): On 21 April 2016, we spoke with both Rowland and NASA's Keith Koehler. Koehler confirmed that the tracer rockets in question operated at far higher altitudes than commercial aircraft (chemtrail conspiracies focus on lower altitudes). Koehler explained why vapor tracers were necessary to measure atmospheric conditions: Use of lithium as a chemical propellant and research agent by NASA was not novel or secretive — the rudimentary information on NASA's web site was first published in 1958. Conspiracy theorists latched on to the use of the word lithium and extrapolated that it was used by NASA to surreptitiously drug the populace. NASA openly admitted to using lithium in a manner widely expected of that element, but use of the word admitted also implied disclosure by accident or under duress. The practice was well documented both by NASA and outside research, and bore no hallmarks of a long-running plot to surreptitiously drug Americans under the guise of rocket launches.
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