Last week, wild reports came out of China concerning a mysterious UFO that hovered over an airport for about an hour before disappearing, seemingly into thin air. During the course of the panic, the airport even stopped all air traffic as the mysterious hovering craft was deemed to be that much of a threat. Well, in the end and after a little detective work, the reason the craft seemingly disappeared into thin air was discovered: the 'UFO' was nothing but air and water vapor.
Yes, that's right, the UFO that closed an airport for an hour was just a cloud.
In an almost unbelievable story that goes to show that even experienced aviation personnel can be easily mistaken by something they see in the sky, the doughnut-shaped UFO was, upon closer examination, found to have been nothing more than a hole punch cloud. Like its name states, a hole punch cloud is caused by something, often an aircraft, disturbing a cloud by flying though it. Considering the location of where this took place, it is not surprising that such a cloud would be seen. The real surprising fact is that so many people flew into a panic over it.
The mechanics of a punch hole cloud are very simple. Cirro and altocumulus clouds are formed by tiny, not quite frozen droplets of water suspended in the air. When an aircraft blowing hot exhaust flies through them, these tiny ice crystals are liquified and then often turn to ice once the aircraft has passed and then fall to Earth as the ice crystals are too heavy to remain aloft. Result: a cloud with a strange, circular hole in it.
So, what does this mean for all of us?
Obviously, if such a doughnut-shaped cloud was mistaken in China for a UFO, it just goes to show that even trained observers can be dead wrong about what they are seeing in the sky. In addition, even a calm, cool-headed observer could be swayed to a more sensationalistic explanation when other, less experienced people are in the area to blow something out of proportion, thus creating a panic where, sooner or later, everyone comes to believe by virtue of public opinion.
In the end, when confronted by some strange object in the sky, we all must try and keep a level-headed outlook as, chances, are, the weird thing in the sky has a very natural, Earthly explanation to it.
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