"Langley scientist takes the conspiracy out of contrails Updated 2/22/2007 5:29 PM ET
By Reed Saxon, AP
The contrail of a rocket carrying a classified payload, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's Central Coast, is faintly visible to the northwest through the haze over Los Angeles Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006.
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — The conspiracy, those wise to it suspect, was hatched by the government. Probably in a building like those at NASA Langley Research Center, down a predictably nondescript hallway, by a scientist eyeing the world's atmosphere through powerful satellites.
Pat Minnis sat at his desk last week, his eyes skittering after the cursor on a huge-panel computer screen. He zoomed in on a recent day, at a certain time, then clicked to a different satellite angle to look at the clouds.
WEATHER GUYS BLOG: His head is in the clouds
Minnis looks like a regular guy, from his subtle-yet-snazzy blue sweater down to his Rockport slip-ons. His silvery hair is cut short and stylish and is thick enough to hold his reading glasses when he glances up.
He doesn't look like someone who would help poison the population, like someone who would turn blue skies gray, or like someone involved in the cover up.
But that's what some people think.
Minnis is a senior research scientist at Langley, where he studies the atmosphere. His satellite tracking, analysis and explorations over the past 15 years have made him a top expert in cirrus clouds and contrails, the wispy lines formed in the sky by aircraft exhaust.
