Weird Clouds... From Another World?
Courtesy U.S. Navy. Photos by John Gay (left) and Jarod Hodge (right).
What do we have here?... Grist for the mill for the UFO believers out there?
At first glance, the images above may indeed look to some like a UFO swallowing a jet fighter as it tries desperately to maneuver out of harms way. Could there be a more earthly explanation?
Keep reading for the answer. And see our full forecast through the weekend and beyond.
In fact, the "UFO" is an example of the condensation clouds that sometimes form around jets as they fly at or near the speed of sound. Under the right conditions, and even at lower speeds, these "vapor cones" are believed to be caused by the Prandtl-Glauert singularity (I know, fancy term for a Friday), the point at which a sudden drop in air pressure occurs around aircraft traveling near transonic speeds.
Lenticular clouds, such as that below, are also often erroneously reported as UFOs.
Courtesy NASA, taken near Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Photo by Peter Michaud.
Lenticulars occur when stable air near saturation is forced to flow over mountain ranges, elevated plateaus or high hills. They often appear stationary or migrate slowly, allowing time for large crowds to gather and witness the hovering spacecraft from a planet far, far away.
By Steve Tracton |
May 16, 2008; 11:30 AM ET
Education
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Posted by: RW | May 16, 2008 11:57 AM
RW, that wasn't lenticulars, that was me grilling steaks. :)
Posted by: Mike from the Blue Ridge | May 16, 2008 12:27 PM
that is really cool...
Posted by: madison | May 16, 2008 12:37 PM
But, how do we explain the multicolored flashing lights and little green men?
Posted by: ~sg | May 16, 2008 12:37 PM
Har. Fun post, Steve. I'm not a UFO enthusiast so what's probably old hat for others was new to me. Interesting to see a couple examples of things that folks might be seeing in the sky and misinterpreting.
Posted by: tinkerbelle | May 16, 2008 12:39 PM
I've seen lots of lenticular clouds. I used to live in Southern Utah. Basin and range country.
All sorts of weird optical effects in the sky if you keep your eyes open.
Posted by: wiredog | May 16, 2008 1:25 PM
So there is no misunderstanding, I too am a "believer" in UFOs. There are all kinds of flying objects up there that cannot be readily identified and might look like flying saucers. Indeed there have been "eyewitness" reports complete with photographs that later proved literally to be dinner saucers - saucers hung from helium filled balloons by folks out for a little fun and attention. In earlier times unidentified flying objects were thought to be witches on brooms, some god out for doing good or evil, a king riding around on his flying carpet, etc. etc.
Bottom Line: Unidentified means just that and only that. There is no evidence whatsoever* that unidentified in any reported incident equates to alien craft from somewhere beyond Earth. But as they say, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. So,true believers of visitors from other worlds keeping their eyes (how many?) on us, you may yet be proven the wise ones.
* "no evidence" at least in the public domain .....
Posted by: Steve Tracton | May 16, 2008 3:35 PM
But I was told it was a weather balloon!
Posted by: The AMT | May 16, 2008 3:47 PM
Where is Ken?
Posted by: Where is Ken? | May 16, 2008 10:02 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I once saw some lenticulars over the Blue Ridge Mtns. Was flying in a small plane above them. That vantage point let me see the air flowing up/then-over the ridge. Pretty cool.