‘UFO’ appears in the sky just weeks after eagle-eyed Aussies spotted unusual ‘spaceship’ cloud
Australians have looked at the skies around south-east Queensland in awe after a giant UFO appeared in the sky.
It was in fact a storm cell, although images show its eerie shape looking eerily like a flying saucer.
‘We received several photos this morning of this really cool UFO-like storm. This is a lenticular storm cloud and it is not that common to see,” Higgins Storm Chasing wrote on their Facebook page Thursday morning.
The weather page explained that the cloud formation was a hailstorm that moved across the Darling Downs towards Oakey and north of Toowoomba around dawn, with light from the early morning sun ‘helping ignite the eastern side of the storm, turning it pink and orange’.
Commenters on the post said the phenomenon was a particularly impressive display of nature, saying that “our skies are always amazing.”
“You can see the beams of ‘Beam me up Scotty,’” one person said.
‘Omg! Thanks for sharing this storm cell, it’s so beautiful,” said a second.
“Who needs drones and aliens when you can have this in the sky,” a third added.
A hailstorm in southeast Queensland formed this spectacular cloud formation at dawn on Thursday that some mistook for a ‘UFO’
It is actually a lenticular cloud that can often produce smooth circular shapes
The spectacular display follows a similar ‘spaceship’ cloud appearing in Sydney.
The bizarre natural phenomenon emerged over the ocean in Cronulla, in Sydney’s southern suburbs, with many sharing photos and videos from the cloud on social media.
But Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque assured Daily Mail Australia the strange cloud was nothing to worry about.
Some suspected the “spaceship” was a lenticular cloud, which the forecaster said forms when moist winds are forced over a barrier, such as a mountain.
“This rising motion over the barrier causes the air to cool and condense into a stationary cloud,” Levesque explains.
“This stationary cloud will have a smooth oval appearance, which is why it is often mistaken for a UFO.”
Mr Levesque said the Cronulla cloud was in fact a roll cloud, a different type from the lenticular cloud which is produced by a similar process.
“Roll clouds form when a cooler, denser air mass pushes beneath another air mass, creating this rising and ‘rolling’ motion at the leading edge of the air mass – hence the name,” he continued.
Some said they could see the “beam me up Scotty” beams, referencing Star Trek
Residents of Cronulla in Sydney’s south were shocked in December by the unusual appearance of a cloud formation that resembled a spaceship
“Southern busters, such as on Tuesday, can bring rolling clouds, and these can occur around three to five times a year in Sydney.”
“A common location for roll clouds is over the Gulf of Carpentaria – so common that it has been given the name ‘Morning Glory Cloud’,” Mr Levesque said.