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Triple "hole-punch clouds" appeared close together off South Carolina January 7.
Three nearly identical, UFO-like cloud formations recently appeared over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sparking online discussions linking the features to everything from the Second Coming to recent mass bird deaths to secret military experiments.
At least one scientist believes the so-called hole-punch clouds have a military explanation, though it may not be quite what conspiracy theorists expect.
On January 7, IT technician Wesley Tyler was running out to his car for a computer part when he noticed the saucer-like formations. (See other cloud pictures.)
"At first we thought they were tornado clouds, but the air was so still—like mausoleum still," Tyler said. "You just knew it was unusual. I've lived on the beach for years and never seen anything like that."
Back home, he uploaded pictures of the clouds to Facebook, tagging a meteorologist friend, who later identified the phenomena as hole-punch clouds, or punch-hole clouds.
Hole-punch clouds are miniature snowstorms that can occur in thin, subfreezing cloud layers.
The lack of fine particles, such as dust, in the clouds means water droplets have little to condense around, so they don't turn to ice until the cloud hits about minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 36 degrees Celsius).
"Basically, the water molecules become sluggish enough at this temperature to form their own cluster of ice that produces an ice crystal spontaneously," according to ice microphysicist Andrew Heymsfield.
When airplanes ascend into this type of cloud, the rearward force created by propellers or by air forced over wings causes air to expand.
This expansion can cool a vaguely circular section of the cloud to the point where many of the water droplets freeze and ice crystals form, according to a June hole-punch cloud study co-authored by Heymsfield in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Over the next 45 minutes or so, ice crystals grow and spread outward, often resulting in a tightly contained, roughly half-hour snowstorm—leaving behind a hole "punched" in the cloud. (Related: pictures of a possible new type of cloud.)
Triple Hole-Punch Clouds Linked to HAARP, Heaven?
Tyler, the photographer, was skeptical of the airplane explanation, due to the sheer number and close proximity of the cloud formations.
"I've scoured the Internet and have yet to find more than one hole-punch cloud in a single frame," he said.
Myrtle Beach International, he added, is "not that busy an airport." And, he said, "I've read that these clouds form at 20,000 feet [6,100 meters], and these clouds looked like they were right above us.
"I doubt they were created by airplanes," Tyler concluded—and he's not alone.
After his pictures were posted on spaceweather.com, the Myrtle Beach (map) resident began hearing from people all over the world.
Some suspected a more colorful cause—perhaps the military-funded High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP, which conspiracy theorists have linked to earthquakes, chronic fatigue syndrome, global warming, and other phenomena.
Though remote, the observatory-and-antenna facility in Gakona, Alaska, is anything but secret. Even so, its use of radio waves to "excite" areas of Earth's ionosphere has helped convince some that HAARP can control weather—and perhaps even create triple hole-punch clouds.
"There is no doubt," one HAARP theorist wrote of the Myrtle Beach apparition on the Big Wobble message board, "it's an electromagnetic corridor produced by our technology." Another wrote on Starseeds.net, "This could be related to HAARP or some weather manipulation as it also ties in with the bird deaths."
More and pic
UFO-Like Clouds Linked to Military Maneuvers?
Triple "hole-punch clouds" appeared close together off South Carolina January 7.
Three nearly identical, UFO-like cloud formations recently appeared over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sparking online discussions linking the features to everything from the Second Coming to recent mass bird deaths to secret military experiments.
At least one scientist believes the so-called hole-punch clouds have a military explanation, though it may not be quite what conspiracy theorists expect.
On January 7, IT technician Wesley Tyler was running out to his car for a computer part when he noticed the saucer-like formations. (See other cloud pictures.)
"At first we thought they were tornado clouds, but the air was so still—like mausoleum still," Tyler said. "You just knew it was unusual. I've lived on the beach for years and never seen anything like that."
Back home, he uploaded pictures of the clouds to Facebook, tagging a meteorologist friend, who later identified the phenomena as hole-punch clouds, or punch-hole clouds.
Hole-punch clouds are miniature snowstorms that can occur in thin, subfreezing cloud layers.
The lack of fine particles, such as dust, in the clouds means water droplets have little to condense around, so they don't turn to ice until the cloud hits about minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 36 degrees Celsius).
"Basically, the water molecules become sluggish enough at this temperature to form their own cluster of ice that produces an ice crystal spontaneously," according to ice microphysicist Andrew Heymsfield.
When airplanes ascend into this type of cloud, the rearward force created by propellers or by air forced over wings causes air to expand.
This expansion can cool a vaguely circular section of the cloud to the point where many of the water droplets freeze and ice crystals form, according to a June hole-punch cloud study co-authored by Heymsfield in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Over the next 45 minutes or so, ice crystals grow and spread outward, often resulting in a tightly contained, roughly half-hour snowstorm—leaving behind a hole "punched" in the cloud. (Related: pictures of a possible new type of cloud.)
Triple Hole-Punch Clouds Linked to HAARP, Heaven?
Tyler, the photographer, was skeptical of the airplane explanation, due to the sheer number and close proximity of the cloud formations.
"I've scoured the Internet and have yet to find more than one hole-punch cloud in a single frame," he said.
Myrtle Beach International, he added, is "not that busy an airport." And, he said, "I've read that these clouds form at 20,000 feet [6,100 meters], and these clouds looked like they were right above us.
"I doubt they were created by airplanes," Tyler concluded—and he's not alone.
After his pictures were posted on spaceweather.com, the Myrtle Beach (map) resident began hearing from people all over the world.
Some suspected a more colorful cause—perhaps the military-funded High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP, which conspiracy theorists have linked to earthquakes, chronic fatigue syndrome, global warming, and other phenomena.
Though remote, the observatory-and-antenna facility in Gakona, Alaska, is anything but secret. Even so, its use of radio waves to "excite" areas of Earth's ionosphere has helped convince some that HAARP can control weather—and perhaps even create triple hole-punch clouds.
"There is no doubt," one HAARP theorist wrote of the Myrtle Beach apparition on the Big Wobble message board, "it's an electromagnetic corridor produced by our technology." Another wrote on Starseeds.net, "This could be related to HAARP or some weather manipulation as it also ties in with the bird deaths."
More and pic
UFO-Like Clouds Linked to Military Maneuvers?