© PHIL LAMBERT/WBTVWhat is this? The photo was taken on Old Mountain Road in Iredell County. Several images of the same thing have appeared on Facebook.
Images showing a mysterious circular gap that appeared in the clouds over a North Carolina highway have ignited a scramble for explanations on social media, including the
possibility it was created by a UFO.
North Carolina TV station WBTV
was the first to post a photo on Monday, with an explanation that viewer Phil Lambert of Lenoir submitted the photo taken on Old Mountain Road in Iredell County.
The photo shows what appears to be a near perfect circle in the clouds.
Not long after, photos from other people began to appear on Facebook, with some commenting — perhaps tongue-in-cheek — that the shape was not unlike the gap that might be left by a descending flying saucer ... or a cloaked USS Enterprise (
a Star Trek reference.)
"ALIENS!"
wrote Dan Ciaccio on Facebook.
"Wow! Looks like a scene from Independence Day!," posted Jennifer Brady Ellis, referring to the 1996 alien invasion movie.
Comment: In March this year residents in the United Arab Emirates spotted a 'rare' hole punch or fallstreak cloud, the first there in a decade.
Observations globally of this cloud phenomena are increasing. In recent times other sightings have appeared over Canada, Southern California, UK, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Other strange cloud anomalies also seem to be appearing world-wide with higher frequency and intensity. Factors which may contribute to these 'strange skies' are atmospheric dust loading from increased comet and volcanic activity and changes in the layers of the atmosphere. See also: