Strange formations appeared this weekend in the sky over Florida, where enormous circular and elongated holes among the clouds caught attention due to their unusual appearance. Although the shapes may resemble scenes from science fiction, they are actually a well-known weather phenomenon with a scientific explanation.
The meteorologist Matt Devitt shared this Sunday on Facebook photographs of the formations observed in Florida and explained how these curious openings between the clouds are formed.
«How awesome is this!», expressed the specialist, who clarified that it was not an unidentified flying object, but rather the so-called hole-punch clouds, also known as fallstreak holes.
These formations occur when certain layers of clouds contain small water droplets that remain in a liquid state despite being at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius.
This condition, known as supercooling, allows water to remain liquid as long as no change occurs that triggers its freezing.
According to Devitt, the passage of an airplane through that layer of clouds can cause some droplets to begin freezing and turn into ice crystals.
The crystals grow by absorbing the moisture from the surrounding droplets as the latter evaporate. The result is an increasingly larger space in the cloud, which can take on circular, oval, or elongated shapes.
When the ice crystals begin to fall under their own weight, they produce the delicate whitish trails that can be seen beneath or inside the holes.
Devitt invited Florida residents who managed to photograph the strange clouds over the weekend to share their images, after showcasing several examples of a phenomenon that can change the appearance of the sky in a matter of minutes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains that the air flowing around the wings of an aircraft can expand and cool enough to trigger the formation of those crystals.
The NASA has also studied this phenomenon and notes that the openings can appear as perfectly cut circles in the sky. Their appearance has occasionally led some people to associate them with flying saucers, although their origin is atmospheric.
In fact, on January 30, 2024, a NASA satellite captured several similar formations over the Gulf of Mexico, off the west coast of Florida.
The images showed large open spaces between the clouds, created by the same process.
The phenomenon has also been reported in Cuba. In May 2022, a formation of this kind was photographed in the sky over Matanzas, Cuba, where meteorologist Henry Delgado Manzor explained that its appearance depends on specific conditions of temperature and humidity in the atmosphere.
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