14 DAY TRIAL // Residents of Stockton, Northern California, thought they saw a UFO in the sky last Friday afternoon, when a strange cloud formation emerged over their town.
They took to social media to express their concerns over a potential alien invasion and sparked a lot of controversy. Numerous photos of the bizarre phenomenon, showing a bright hole in the sheet of otherwise undisturbed clouds, were posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, with many describing the event as a UFO.
However, others speculated that the bright hole might have been caused by weather manipulation, Daily Mail informs.
“So the @WhiteHouse wants you to believe what happened over the skies of Stockton yesterday was a ‘cloud formation’? GTFOH #iKnowWhatiSaw,” user CaPtDCharles tweeted.
“Stockton, interesting stuff happening there as always...weather manipulation much? Hmm,” wrote another user.
But, despite people's bizarre theories, the explanation for the unusual hole in the clouds is actually quite simple. These types of formations are called hole punch clouds and appear when an aircraft passes through certain types of clouds, causing a disruption.
Moreover, Atmospheric Optics explains that the odd coloration was most likely due to cloud iridescence, a phenomenon that causes clouds to change color. It happens when thin parts of clouds with similarly sized water droplets diffract light.