Strange Skies
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Telescope

Ice halo around the moon seen in the UK

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Pictured is the moon halo over the, Isle of Wight. The moon halo is formed by a high-altitude ice crystal cloud that gathers around the moon
Last night many observers in the UK reported seeing an odd halo of light around the moon.

The remarkable phenomenon was captured in stunning images, showing the moon surrounded by a bright ring of light.

The spectacle is caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere, specifically when thin cirrus or cirrostratus clouds are present at an altitude of about 20,000 feet (6,100 metres).

Sun

'Three suns' appear over Mongolia in rare anthelion phenomenon


Three suns appear in the horizon over Mongolia, in an a rare optical illusion known as anthelion. The middle sun is the actual star which appears daily in the sky, while the other two are smaller reflections. The phenomenon occurs in extremely cold temperatures when the sun's light reflects off snow crystals in the air

UFO

UFO releasing glowing orbs into a formation in Western Massachusetts


Comment: Are we beginning to experience a spike in the High Strangeness phenomena? From the last few days:

Strange purple object in the sky over Tynemouth UK

Mysterious footage of teleporting dog that appears on motorway out of thin air


UFO

Transparent UFO? Or plasma light? Unusual phenomenon photographed over Austria

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© Nepoznato
Link to actual photo

Witness: "I'm a resident of Vienna in Austria and when I was on the balcony, I saw this huge transparent vehicle floating above the clouds for about two minutes." "I grabbed my phone (Samsung Galaxy S5) and after I took a photograph of it, the vehicle was gone." "I've never seen anything like it, it was strange."

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Mufon case 61696.

Comment: Very interesting, especially when looking at the actual photo:

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Bizarro Earth

This rare rainbow appeared over the Atacama Desert at 9,500 feet above sea level

Rainbow
© ESO/A. Silber
Rainbows are widely appreciated for the welcome touch of colour they can bring to an otherwise dark and dreary day, and this rainbow is no exception.

This rare rainbow appears over the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Operations Support Facility (OSF), which lies some 2900 metres above sea level close to San Pedro de Atacama. The OSF is the base camp for the ALMA site, which is significantly higher at over 5000 metres up on the Chajnantor Plateau.

The OSF isn't just a location for operating the giant ALMA Observatory; it is also where new technologies are assembled, integrated, and verified before they are transported to their final destination on Chajnantor. The technology has to be assembled and tested at the OSF because the air is much denser there than on the plateau, and workers can complete their tasks without the adverse health risks associated with working at high altitude.

This rainbow was captured by ESO employee Armin Silber.

Comment: Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, it is almost a miracle that we can admire this beauty.


Grey Alien

Saucer shaped lighted object floats over Manchester, UK

ufo manchester
Spooky: The peculiar outline was captured by craftsman John Hindley - who claims he took the picture of what looked like a 'glitch' in the sky after feeling a 'magnetic pull' towards it
A mysterious saucer-shaped object has been photographed floating in the sky above Manchester.

The peculiar outline was captured by craftsman John Hindley - who claims he took the picture of what looked like a 'glitch' in the clouds after feeling a 'magnetic pull' towards it.

The 35-year-old insists he is a perfectly rational man but after zooming in on the photo believes what he saw could have been a UFO.

Comment: The United Kingdom is not alone in experiencing a surge in sightings of strange objects: UFO sightings soar to new heights in Canada


Bizarro Earth

This bizarre, glittering cloud just appeared in the sky over Australia

Hole Punch Cloud
© Peter Fell/ABC News, Australia
The ABC is reporting an incredible sight in the skies over east Victoria, in the Gippsland area. It looks like a UFO, but it's entirely natural.

No, it's not chemtrails. Instead, it's a type of cloud called a Fallstreak Hole. You may recognize that it glimmers in a way that's similar to the contrails of jets. That's because a similar phenomenon causes it. That rainbow look is the result of water crystals in the clouds freezing and refracting the light. Those frozen crystals have also made one patch of the cloud slightly heavier, pulling it downward from the rest of the cloud layer, and giving it that odd, punch-out look.

I mentioned contrails earlier because they are also caused by frozen water droplets hanging in the air, gleaming in the sunlight. But contrails happen when warm air is released with jet exhaust and collides with supercooled water in the stratosphere. This causes the water to freeze instantly, and thus you can see a long trail of frozen vapor where a plane just flew overhead.


Rocket

Antares rocket explosion: A "vehicle anomaly", a deliberate destruction, or something else?

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An unmanned rocket exploded shortly after takeoff Tuesday evening (28th of October) on Virginia's eastern shore. It was carrying a capsule loaded with experiments and much needed equipment. There were no injuries, but because of "classified crypto equipment" onboard, NASA made sure to secure the area.


Although there is much to say about the symbology of the event (starting with it being US's another flop and Russia saving the day, or the fact that Antares was being partly developed in Ukraine), there are plenty of other no less curious details.

Bizarro Earth

'Phantom' lights in sky over Rochdale, UK mystery continues

Rochdale strange lights
© Matthew JacksonUnexplained blue / green lights over Rochdale.
Mystery continues to surround phantom lights that appeared in the skies over Rochdale last week.

As featured in Wednesday's Rochdale Observer, strange flashes of blue and green were spotted in the skies, power went out and homes were left without electricity during the curious episode last Thursday evening, October 23.

Some people also reported hearing a loud bang, while others thought they had seen an object shoot into the sky.

And social media users have come up with all sorts of explanations for the events, from fireworks to a solar flare, the Northern Lights and even alien activity.

The lights were spotted above homes over Rochdale, Norden, Littleborough, Newhey and Whitworth, with many residents noticing their own lights flickering, a temporary loss of power, flashes and the triggering of burglar alarms.

Comment: The sun did have a massive sunspot during the time of the sighting of the mysterious lights.

Solar flare danger - massive sunspot the size of Jupiter takes aim at Earth


Cloud Grey

Strange and spectacular cloud formation over Perth

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© Glenn RogersWeird cloud formation, Perth Australia
Several PerthNow readers have woken to a sight described as "out of this world" after spotting a puzzling UFO-shaped cloud in the sky. The unusual cloud formation even had experts baffled, with the Bureau of Meteorology taking some time to investigate what the strange phenomenon may be.

Anyone fearing an alien invasion can now have their minds put at rest as experts at the Bureau of Meteorology have confirmed their original suspicions are true - the strange phenomenon sighted in Perth skies this morning was in fact a Fallstreak Cloud.

According to the bureau's Neil Bennett, the cloud - which was sitting high above Perth Airport - contained extremely cold water particles.

Comment: Strange clouds have been noted over Australia before. Read this article on Chemtrails? Contrails? Strange skies