Cloud Anomalies
Any
fan of the X Files television series will probably remember the opening
credits with the UFO shaped cloud that is in the beginning sequence.
I'm sure the producers picked that shot because of it's striking
resemblance to reported UFOs, as are many cloud anomalies that one might
see in the course of investigations.
Lenticular Cloud
As
you can see in the above picture, it is understandable why some people
might think that the object is a UFO. It even appears to have a dome
shape on the top of it. Lenticularis (Latin for 'lens-shaped'), or
lenticular clouds, have three different types; stratocumulus,
altocumulus, and cirrocumulus. They can occur at altitudes up to 40,000
ft., and can even sometimes precipitate rain. They are formed by a
mechanical obstruction of the ambient wind flow, which could be hills,
mountains or even large buildings. When stable, moist air flows over
mountains, it can create long-standing waves on the downwind side, and
if the temperature at the crest of the wave lowers to the dewpoint, a
lenticular cloud may form. I would highly encourage any Field
Investigator to spend some time Googling pictures of lenticular clouds,
so you can be familiar with their appearance...and because most of the
pictures of them are truly magnificent!
The
next anomaly I'd like to introduce is called a 'Fallstreak Hole'. This
amazing anomaly is the one responsible for people commenting, "it looks
like a cloaked mother ship!" I must admit, it does remind me of the
'Predator' just a tiny bit.
Fallstreak Hole
As
you can see from the above picture, it is easy to imagine that there is
actually something there making the cloud appear this way, after all if
that was a basin of soapy water, it is exactly how we would expect it
to act if there were another body floating on it. In fact, they are
formed when the water temperature inside the cloud is below freezing,
yet the water hasn't frozen yet due to lack of supercooled water, or ice
nucleation particles. When the water does freeze it causes a domino
effect which causes the water around the ice crystals to evaporate,
leaving the hole in the cloud. Interestingly, these can be caused by
passing aircraft, which can leave a drastic drop in pressure behind the
wings, or propeller tips.
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