This week a mysterious black ring appeared in the blue sky over Virginia. The ring hung there for about 10 minutes and then disappeared.
Williamsburg residents flooded a news station around 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday when they spotted the ominous circle above a major highway.
Ron Stepp said he was working near Eastern State Hospital when it appeared in the sky as a huge smoke ring.
Others reported the sighting from nearby neighborhoods, suggesting the animal could be seen from miles away.
Similar black rings have been spotted in other locations, with fires and explosions cited as the likely cause. However, officials said no fires were present at the time of the sighting.
Renee Fisher captured this photo of the mysterious black ring taken in a neighborhood in the Waller Mill area of Williamsburg
Joshua Bean spotted the ring floating above a highway in Williamsburg.
Peggy Olszyk captured the black ring as it hung above the treetops, while Renee Fisher snapped a few photos of it outside a neighborhood.
Two other viewers sent photos to the station. These photos were taken on Interstate 64 heading west, near the Fort Eustis exit and near Old Moretown Road.
This is not the first time we have seen such an object floating in the sky.
In June, a similar ring-shaped cloud was spotted over Venezuela and captured in a now-viral video.
“A flying saucer,” one of the young men shouts as they drive down a road on a sunny afternoon.
And in July, another floating black ring was photographed drifting across an orange and pink sunset over Pearland, Texas.
There have been numerous other sightings all over the world. It seems that these mysterious objects can appear almost anywhere.
But so far, no one has officially confirmed what these objects are or where they came from. But there are some theories.
Experts have indicated that fire or an explosion, such as fireworks, most likely caused the rings.
WAVY contacted the James City County Fire Department to see if there were any reports around the time the Williamsburg circle was reported. The fire chief had not heard any.
According to one viewer, the black ring disappeared within about 10 minutes.
No one has officially confirmed what caused the ring, but experts say it was most likely a fire or explosion.
The news station also contacted Dominion Energy, an American energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, to see if there was a broken transformer that could have caused the ring.
Dominion spokesman Tim Eberly told WAVY there have been no incidents involving equipment this week that could cause a black smoke ring.
But the station’s meteorologist, Ricky Mathews, said he’s seen these rings of fireworks before. They’re basically the result of concentrated rising fire.
He also theorized that it could be a special effect for a movie.