Inside the Jet Stream Giving Rise to the Jet Stream Page 1 of 15 | Next page The jet stream flows from west to east, the same direction in which the Earth rotates. Why is this? First of all, let's imagine that we could suddenly halt the Earth's rotation as well as all of the motion within the Earth's atmosphere. Let's also imagine that the sun revolves around the Earth once a day (as was once believed long ago). Next page Solve the Mystery of STENDEC | Mysterious Plane Crashes Reading the Wreckage | Inside the Jet Stream | Resources Transcript | Site Map | Vanished! Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated January 2001