Comment:

UPDATE 24th July 2018:

Mystery gets murkier over cloud that turned day into night

No official explanations for darkness over swathes of Yakutia amid conspiracy theories of a UFO, new weapons tests, a meteorite, or pollution from wildfires.

The territory impacted by the mysterious gloom is larger than Italy.

Day suddenly turned to night around noon on Friday, and for almost three hours locals needed torches to see where they were going.

The area hit by the bizarre darkness now appears more extensive than first reported when it was said to have covered Eveno-Bytantaisky and Zhigansky districts of Russia's coldest region - Yakutia.

Now reports say the sun dimmed in Verkhoyansky too.

© foro_by_oleg7
The sun turned red in Yakutsk because of the wildfires raging in the republic.

The darkness had a 'yellow' tinge, or was associated with dust clouds, say various versions.

Some blamed the work of the devil but the main assumption initially was that smoke from raging wildfires in other districts had blotted out the sun.

Yet some official sources have expressed doubts over this theory without explaining what caused the weird phenomenon.

Into this vacuum locals have swapped theories on WhatsApp and other social media over the cause of the darkness like an eclipse - except there wasn't one.

Another source said: 'This can only be explained by a UFO.'

A local resident in from Eveno-Bytantaisky said:

'Messages are going around about about a light flash registered by the US satellites, followed by increase of radioactive level and unusual activity of the military.

'We are never going to be told is this was true or false.'

Another source said: 'This can only be explained by a UFO.'

An official in Nizhne-Bytantaisky settlement contradicted residents who had reported a thick layer of dust after the cloud and darkness vanished.

'There was no dust,' he said..

'At first it looked like it was a strong thunderstorm coming.

'The air went dark, and got darker and darker, but this time unlike anything else we have seen before the darkness had a rich yellow undertone.

'It was very unusual.

'We doubt the solar eclipse version.

'Usually weather stations and media inform everyone about eclipses in advance.

'And no eclipse can last this long.'

Konstantin Starostin, head of the settlement, said: 'When the Sun vanished, people started calling us in the administration.

'Many got scared, specially elderly people.

'People who live here for many years said they had never witnessed anything like this.'

'The darkness was pitch black.

'It didn't come at once, but grew gradually.

‘The air went dark, and got darker and darker, but this time unlike anything else we have seen before the darkness had a rich yellow undertone.'

'The Sun was gone from 11.30 until 14.00 on Friday 20 July.'

'The air went dark, and got darker and darker, but this time unlike anything else we have seen before the darkness had a rich yellow undertone.'

'There was no dust. Many were coming outside, so many witnesses can confirm that there was no dust.

'There was no sharp decrease in air temperature either as it happened. But on that night the air dropped down to -4C.

'We don't know what to think.

'We have no experts, and rumours keep growing.

'If this was linked to some kind of military tests, I would say so.'

The Sun didn't 'leave' all Arctic Yakutia districts.

Head of Verkhoyansk town Yevgeny Potapov said that 'the sun didn't disappear, but something strange happened on that day.'

The territory engulfed by the fire this morning was estimated as about 1,200,000 hectares.

'There was something looking like smoke on 20 July. At least this is what we decided. We didn't have nearby wildfires, but there was one at the border with Eveno-Bytantaisky ulus.

'It was as if the day has gone overcast, as if the sun was covered with a cloud, or not a cloud... but there was no rain', Potapov said.

'We didn't know what was happening to our neighbours', Potapov added.

'We thought stories about no sun were rumours, but then we realised these were not.

'We are also trying to guess as to what could have this possibly been.'

Yet there has been no clarification from meteorological, defence, or other deferral officials.

'We get warnings about eclipses,' he said, indicating there had been no such alert.

'It could have been a meteorite, but surely not that big.

'This is really unclear.'

Evidently almost all Arctic districts reported a significant temperature fall.

Wildfire pollution does appear to cover most of the events that occurred; the dust, the oil (which could just be dust combined with liquid), the darkened sky and the dead birds (which died from smoke inhalation?). But while there's nothing too unusual about a wildfire, what is unusual is the apparent atmospheric conditions that combined to transport the smoke from such a distance and to drop it in this area. It's also notable that while much of the Northern hemisphere seems to be on fire, which in itself is ominous, no events similar to that which occurred in Siberia have been reported. Although it may be that the same strange blocking pattern which has set Europe ablaze was somehow related to the events in Siberia. For now at least, the mystery remains unsolved.

Analysis of the dust should shed some light on the situation. But it is true that volcanoes are erupting all over the planet and summer in the northern hemisphere is seeing unprecedented wildfires, and those could explain the dust reported. Although another possibility could be Siberia's methane deposits which seem to be showing signs of increasing instability through outgassing, and in some cases, explosions:

• Methane outgassing discovered in Siberia's Yamal peninsula crater hole say scientists
• Aerial photography reveals unexplained holes appearing in Arctic sea ice
• New info on 'crater-hole' in Siberia: 'Explosion' and 'glow in sky' witnessed 100 km away
• Worldwide volcanic activity uptick update, and new volcano discovered on Jupiter's moon Io
• Sweden requests emergency assistance from EU to fight rapidly spreading, uncontrolled wildfires
• A dark December: In one month Moscow totals 6 minutes of sunlight while Belgium bears just 10.5 hours
• Thousands of underground methane bubbles set to explode in Siberia

UPDATE: 27 July 2018

The Siberian times reports:

New video shows scale of darkness when day turned to night - and gulls died - in Yakutia

Reports emerged of the dead gulls found by a resident of the village of Osokhtokh in Verkhoyansky district on the shore of Lake Baibal-Kuel.

Does a spooky event in New England 238 years ago hold the clue to the eerie blackness that descended one week ago in Siberia?

Retirees were 'scared', having never witnessed anything of the kind before.

New footage highlighted here shows the total gloom of the 'day-into-night' phenomenon in Yakutia on 20 July when a mysterious cloud engulfed several districts.

It is also now clear - as our pictures show - that when the sun returned dozens of black-headed gulls had died during the impromptu daytime blackout of almost three hours.

As we reported earlier, the light was blotted out in several districts covering an area substantially above the Arctic Circle, in size larger than Italy.

Retirees were 'scared', having never witnessed anything of the kind before.

The blanket of darkness starting soon after 11am was accompanied by a significant fall in temperature, a red or yellow tinge in the distant sky, a feeling for some witnesses of unpleasant pollution in the air, and - in a few locations - a trail of dust or an oil film on the surface after the light had returned at 3pm.

There was anecdotal evidence of car electrical devices failing.

The blanket of darkness starting soon after 11am was accompanied by a significant fall in temperature.

Amid a puzzling official and federal media silence, all kinds of theories as to the cause, some conspiratorial, went wild on the web.

Versions include a new darkness-inducing weapon being tested, a meteorite strike, the work of aliens or the devil, an unannounced eclipse, a botched rocket launch, or the fumes from raging forest fires.

Suspicions deepened because some official bodies were so coy - even evasive - when asked to explain the event, as if under orders.

A source at the Emergencies Ministry in Yakutsk said in hushed tones: 'We have an opinion but I have no right to disclose this information.'

He declined to confirm forest fires as the most likely cause, adding guardedly: 'Anything can be supposed.'

Against this, there were no wild fires in the districts hit by the mysterious cloud.

There has been no comment from the Ministry of Defence.

First video of 'eclipse' in Yakutia

As well as the total gloom shown in the video, reports emerged of the dead gulls found by a resident of the village of Osokhtokh in Verkhoyansky district on the shore of Lake Baibal-Kuel.

Some reports say the remains of 30 birds were found, others that the number was 50.

Inspectors have taken samples to find out the cause of their demise.

They will be checked for bird diseases but also for toxic and radiological poisoning, it was announced.

WWF Russia was also somewhat non-committal, with climate expert Alexey Kokorin saying: 'To figure out exactly what it was, it is necessary to see satellite images for these very territories and these very hours.'

Strangely one week later, such data has not been disclosed.

Ivan Gorokhov, head of Eveno-Batynaisky district: 'It was really dark.

'Usually at this time of year we have the sun rather high - at about 80 degrees over horizon, but it was not visible at all.

'Not even a spot. It was totally dark.

'When I switched off my office light in my office there was no light coming through the window, so you can understand how dark it was.

'This darkness really did have some yellowish colour....'

Reports emerged of the dead gulls found by a resident of the village of Osokhtokh in Verkhoyansky district on the shore of Lake Baibal-Kuel.

He did not receive complaints about ill health but he noticed 'a smell of smoke, of something that had burned.'

‘We don’t know what to think….we have no experts, and rumours keep growing.'

In his vicinity there were 'no dust or ashes but in some places there was a thin oil film on the water'.

Higher authorities have offered no explanation, he confirmed.

He concluded mysteriously: 'We made an official request (for information on the cause), but we have had no reply. Maybe we are all infected, who knows?'

Konstantin Starostin, head of Nizhne-Bytantaisky settlement, said he was baffled.

'We don't know what to think....we have no experts, and rumours keep growing.

'If this was linked to some kind of military tests, I would say so.'

Head of Verkhoyansk town Yevgeny Potapov said: 'Something strange happened on that day.'

'We don't know what to think....we have no experts, and rumours keep growing.'

He doubted an eclipse or a meteorite.

We contacted Natalia Kovalyova, the acting head of meteorological and agricultural forecasting department in regional capital Yakutsk.

She believes Yakutia's darkest day was caused by forest fires with the pollution blown into districts where no infernos were raging.

If true, the phenomenon appears to be similar to an event in the eastern United States on 19 May 1790 when darkness fell over a large area not affected by wildfires.

It is known as New England's Dark Day.

Here too the skies were reported as red and yellow tinged and the cause was believed to fires burning in Ontario, Canada, combined with a thick cloud cover and fog.

'We think that partly it is a meteorological event, but let me stress, this is only a preliminary conclusion based on information we have just received,' said Kovayova.

'I have not been there myself and did not see it.

'We know that a weather front passed the northern regions of Yakutia on that day carrying cold air and most likely it has also brought the smoke from forest fires.

'As for today, there are 319 active forest fires in our republic, almost the whole territory is burning, so there is nothing surprising in smoke being carried around by air flows in the atmosphere.

She believes Yakutia's darkest day was caused by forest fires with the pollution blown into districts where no infernos were raging.

'According to our preliminary understanding, it was the smoke from southwestern areas that reached the north.

'But what is puzzling us, why was it red?

'I have heard local people indicating that some red ashes have been seen at the water surfaces after this event.

'I believe you have seen photographs with red colour and the main question is - what made it red?

'I am not sure if we are going to investigate it further, it is just interesting.'

Kokorin concurred that wildfire pollution was the most likely cause.

And Alexander Oboimov, an Arctic researcher and meteorologist, said: 'It is just smog caused by wildfires...

'In 2010 I observed a similar phenomenon in Voronezh region.

'In July, nearly the same dates, when the forests were burning [across central Russia].

'The sun was not visible, like an eclipse. So it is nothing supernatural.'

In the New England event, there were reports that rain left a light film and ash was found the surface.

The day darkness similarly lasted for around three hours in most localities.

Locals rushed to church, it was reported, while 'roosters crowed, woodcocks whistled, and frogs peeped as if night had fallen'.

Comment: Red sprites were only officially documented in 1989 and yet it seems every year they appear with an increasing frequency, and with this recent footage, it seems their luminosity is also increasing. As noted in the article, this is in line with the rise in cosmic rays and the quieting sun:

• Photographer captures yet another photo of 'rare' red sprites - in skies above Oklahoma
• 'Rare' red sprite season begins early with elusive bolts snapped during storm over Czech republic
• Unusual outburst of red sprites during storm over Europe, and cosmic ray mapping expands
• Strange skies: Red Sprites in Oklahoma, aurora Steve in Canada, iridescent clouds in Illinois and noctilucent clouds in Denmark
• Strange but beautiful skies: Noctilucent 'tornado' cloud, auroras, double and twin rainbow plus a midnight rainbow

Comment: While the northern hemisphere succumbs to drought, wildfires and flooding, winter in the northern hemisphere is proving to be unusually brutal:

• Areas in Australia recording coldest temps in more than a decade
• "Perfect storm": UK farming crisis as areas suffer worst drought for 225 years
• Peru - More than 250,000 alpacas die of cold and snow (2013)
• Disastrous cold snap in Peru (2007

Also check out SOTT's monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - May 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

Comment: Seven of California's 10 largest fires on record have occurred since 2000 including last year's Thomas fire, the largest blaze in the state's recorded history.

Meanwhile in Greece the death toll has reached 87 people, with countless more missing, after devastating wildfires decimated seaside communities outside Athens.

See also: Situation critical in Greece as residents flee wildfires by jumping into the sea - At least 50 dead - UPDATES