No, a German pilot wasn’t sacked for refusing to spray chemtrails

A video being shared online appears to highlight the case of an airline pilot sacked for refusing to spray chemtrails. But this isn’t what it seems—the clip is actually satire.

It has been shared on Facebook with the caption: “Pilot refuses chemtrailling now finds himself in court. German Lufthansa pilot refused to activate his chemtrail equipment during flights over EU. He refused because he couldn’t live with his conscience and ultimately got fired for it. He is now in court fighting his termination because ‘that was not a part of my contract’ he stated. It’s news like this that reveals reality to the disbelievers.”

The video appears to be a news broadcast interview with a man named “Christoph W”, who talks about his alleged dismissal from the airline Lufthansa, and his appeal in the courts in Germany. He claims to have had his contract terminated because of his refusal to activate a “chemtrail switch” to spray chemicals during a flight between Frankfurt and Barcelona.

But this video doesn’t reflect a real event. It was created by a satire outlet and wasn’t a real employment case.

The video was released in September 2024 by Der Postillon, a satirical news site which publishes joke articles in written and video format. The man who plays the pilot also appears in a number of other Der Postillon videos playing different roles, including a journalist for the channel and a man unable to understand irony.

The German satire outlet also published an article about the same fictional employment case in October 2023.

Enduring conspiracy theories that “chemtrails”, which tend to refer to contrails, the white lines of water vapour left by aircraft, are evidence of a plot to spread poison or control the weather continue to be shared on social media. We’ve debunked claims about chemtrails many times.