Trails

[jtype]

It seems that the skies in West Wales have been bombarded with plane trails over the last six months or more. The trails seem to merge and form clouds. Today I noticed at least 7 planes giving off trails at the same time but when I took a quick look to check on planefinder, there was just one plane within 20 miles.
I have noticed that one plane went over at the same tim as the others and there were no trails and this one seemed to be showing on planefinder.
Can anyone tell me what these trails are and why?
Sorry if this is the incorrect section to post such a question.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Contrails are frequently produced by high-flying aircraft. However, particular atmospheric conditions are required for the contrails to form and they sometimes exist only in small vertical segments. E.g. you may see and aircraft trailing at 34,000 ft but one at 32,000 may not. Also, you may go for many days without seeing any contrails and then see lots. You can read about them here: Contrails

[jtype]

Thanks for the reply. Another thing I am finding strange is that they form criss cross patterns, which never used to be the case. Is there any way I can check what flights are overhead. I have checked on Plane Finder ? Live Flight Status Tracker but they are not shown, so, can I rule out passenger flights?
Any advice on where I can get more information?
They do not seem the trails I am used to seeing elsewher as they tend to have a whispy spread.

[aviate1138]

Please do not consider Chemtrails as being a possibility. For many decades contrails in various parts of the world produce crossing patterns where flights are made with a heading of around 90º/270º difference at similar times. The spacing comes from the airmass moving
and the frequent flights being at the right height for the condensation trails to form.

HD link Contrails is worth a read.

Another one worth a look at is Contrail Science

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

jtype Try this: Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

You can choose the area to watch in the top RH corner and also move the map by holding down the left mouse key and dragging it. Flight Radar will show many flights but not all. Military flights as well as some other types of flight may be blocked but most commercial airliners flying the airways system will be displayed.

The routes flown on regular commercial services can vary, particularly those flying over the Atlantic where they will take advantage of upper winds. So one day you may see many flying westbound and next day you may see fewer.

HTH

[jtype]

Thanks, yes, that was one of the sites I used to check and a quick look now is a great example of what I am saying. At present, just 1 within 50 mile radius but look to the sky and it is a lot different.
I appreciate that particular atmospheric conditions are required for the contrails to form, but would conditions have changed so drastically over the last year or two?
Also, I assume such atmospheric conditions change all the time, buy why are the trails there every day and throughout the day. Have the conditions changed so muc they don't actually change anymore?

Someone says "Please do not consider Chemtrails as being a possibility". I will consider everything and anything at the moment as it seems nobody can give me the information I would like.

[aviate1138]

jtype
"I will consider everything and anything at the moment as it seems nobody can give me the information I would like."

Are you certain "conditions have changed so much"?

Living in the Surrey Hills it all seems relatively normal to me.......

[Capetonian]

I often see contrails and no corresponding flight on FR24 etc. Never worried me, but now I realise I should probably be wearing my tinfoil hat and building a chemtrail proof shelter before the men in white coats come to take me aw ............

[wiggy]

Like others here I have flown over that part of the world many times over the years, no doubt often leaving a trail. Nothing has changed that I know of in the last few years...maybe it's simply the case that you think you spotted something strange and are now spending more time looking at the trails than you were a few years back.

it seems nobody can give me the information I would like.

OK, what information would you like? From what I've can see you've been given plenty good factual objective information.

Capetonian

[jtype]

It seems some are obsessed with Chemtrails. I had to look up what they were, I just want to know why in the last year or so there is a huge increase in trails, also often crossing and where I could see what is in the air, like flight radar, as if what you say is correct, that site cannot be relied upon for accuracy?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

There are several web sites like Flight Radar which depend in input from ground stations for their information. Many such ground stations are enthusiasts using readily obtainable equipment such as SBS who feed the information over the internet to FR. These simple gadgets receive secondary radar transmissions from aircraft (some aircraft, not all) and, using clever software, plot the positions on a PC screen producing displays not unlike ATC Radar. If the "ground station" happens to pop down to the shops or goes on holiday the coverage of quite a large area can be lost if the SBS is turned off. I have an SBS device with a small aerial on the side of my house near Reading, Berkshire. As I type I can see an Irish airliner at 38,000 ft over Liverpool. If I moved the aerial a little higher I could probably see over west Wales. However, I don't have SBS on all day so I do not contribute to FR or other sites. These sites cannot be relied on for anything like 100% accuracy.

Contrails crossing are not unusual because the airways cross. E.g. traffic heading from Scotland to Spain may well route south over your area as will "crossing" traffic from London to/from the USA. There will inevitably be military traffic which won't be "seen" except on real radar.

It's difficult to know what to suggest to help you further as there are so many variables.

[treadigraph]

Just looking at FR24 with altitude filter set to 30000+ which should include anything contrailing and transmitting the necessary data - a dozen or more aircraft visible across South Wales and a few more over north Wales.

I saw a beautiful contrail curving round over South London on Monday evening - not on FR24 at all, but through the binos it appeared to be be a Global Express, probably an RAF Sentinel.

[wiggy]

It seems some are obsessed with Chemtrails.

Well if you claim people are giving you information you don't like it's not suprising folks think you might have an alternative agenda, I'm glad you haven't.

I just want to know why in the last year or so there is a huge increase in trails, also often crossing

There's certainly been a gradual increase in traffic over the decades, but I'm really not sure it's a "huge increase" in the last year.

Just a few thoughts. Confirmation bias? Is it possible that once you noticed the phenomonem you think you detected you've started taking more of an interest in contrails and you're only just aware how busy it is "up there"? Is the weather better this year (fewer clouds) than in previous years and therefore the trails are more visible? Have you changed jobs/working hours and are "spotting" at peak times?

As for the reliability of the "radar sites", no they don't show everything.

[Hotel Tango]

jtype, don't take any notice of the nonsense people are trying to sell you. The truth is that this increase in contrails is down to increased alien activity in preparation for an invasion of earth. Authorities know about it but don't want to cause a worldwide panic. Agents roam these forums to discredit those who have noticed this increased activity. Do you have a cellar?

[Capetonian]

This may be true. I was disturbed early this morning my a strange humming noise and flashing lights which lit up the room and seemed to come through the walls and ceiling. I got up to make tea and this fellow was sitting on the side of the kitchen sink. Seemed friendly enough but neither of the cars would start this morning and everything in the deepfreeze had defrosted. Very odd.

[Hotel Tango]

How the heck did you get a picture of my wife?!!

[DaveReidUK]

I would agree that this year's fine summer has no doubt resulted in many more sightings of contrails over at least parts of the country. At the risk of stating the obvious, aircraft still contrail above the clouds when it's raining (as it often seems to do in West Wales in normal years) - you just can't see them then.

And the flightpaths that they are following when they cross each other have, in most cases, been there for decades, although of course the numbers of aircraft have been steadily increasing over the years.

So, much though I love a good conspiracy theory, I don't think there's one operating here.

[thing]

Don't know exactly where in west Wales you are but looking at my half mil there are two intersecting airways roughly above Ebbw Vale. Not west Wales I know but at 30 odd thousand feet you would be able to see them from quite a way off on the ground.

[jtype]

thing. Swansea.

[jtype]

Hotel Tango. Nobody trying to sell me anything, purely my own observation which I was seeking information on.