UFO Clouds Seen Over the Bay Area Were Lenticular Clouds
The Claim
Strange clouds which looked like UFOs appeared over the sky in California.
News posted on
Emerging story
On Monday, May 24th, residents of the San Francisco Bay Area looked up to see odd clouds in the sky. Social media users posted photos and speculated as to the nature of the phenomenon. Posts called them “flying saucers” and “UFO clouds” because of their shape.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar discovered that the rare cloud formations are called lenticular clouds. These types of clouds usually happen near mountains, and the Bay Area has the lovely Santa Cruz Mountain Range to provide a breeding ground for this odd sight. The clouds are formed when a mountain obstructs the flow of moist air. Standing waves may form on the mountain’s downwind side, and if the temperature at the crest of a mountain is cold enough, the air thickens into a circular shape. The clouds are often described as space-ship or UFO-shaped, and sometimes referred to as pancake clouds.
Strange weather phenomena exist around the world. From the moving rocks of Death Valley to an event often reported by sailors called a green flash, we cannot always explain what we see. Lenticular clouds are a rare and interesting sight to those lucky enough to catch them. They may even explain many UFO sightings throughout history. For example, one seems to be featured in 15th-century painter Carlo Crivelli's The Annunciation of Saint Emidius.
