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Why are they leaving contrails?

By himalayanreview


Now what is this flying object above the contrails sighted from Singtam

I do not know how correct I am but….a comparative studies of the so called contrails photographs from other part of the word with that of those observed in Sikkim in the last two months draws a similar conclusion. It was more of a curiosity that drew my interest into this mysterical phenomenon that had many faces gazing across the sky in inquisitiveness. I too wanted to know, what were those thick lines of clouds that were sighted on certain places of Sikkim in the last two months? I have observed people say, those clouds arranged in a straight line looked like the smokes of some object, stayed on the sky for some time and vanished in air.

The knowledge bank, Wikipedia defines a term “contrail” that means “Contrails (short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are basically artificial clouds, visible trails of condensed water vapour, made by the exhaust of aircraft engines. As the hot exhaust gases cool in the surrounding air they may precipitate a cloud of microscopic water droplets. If the air is cold enough, this trail will comprise tiny ice crystals.”

In the past we have come across fighter planes moving around in the skies of Sikkim but as far as I recall my memory I have never seen any white lines of cloud left by them on their path. So what are these objects and why are they leaving the white clouds?

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  1. Anant DhamalaJanuary 25, 2010 12:23 PM

    Wiki also states that contrails usually occur above 8000 metres (26,000 feet). Previously the IAF mostly flew older Mig 21 n Mig 27 fighters around the Sikkim skies which are mainly for Ground attack trainings, they usually fly quite low in the mountains, at arnd 10,000 feet or 20,000 feet depending on the mission, and are quite audible and prominent. The Sukhoi 30 currently deployed are air superiority aircraft capable of High altitude Recon. These aircraft fly high to be able to look at maximum distance while staying within our borders, also we are deploying Medium altitude UAVs which again fly at very high altitude to fulfill their missions. This could be one explanation for the frequent occurence of contrails in the Sikkim skies these days. With growing tensions with China, it is very much obvious why these defense assets are now being deployed in a strategic location such as Sikkim, hence the confusion. Just my 2 cents..

    Cheers,
    Anant

    ReplyDelete

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