An ominous halo cloud over Moscow has been the subject of much speculation all over the internet since its appearance last week.

Everything from extraterrestrials to industrial pollution has been blamed for the strange cloud over the city. Curious residents snapped shots and uploaded footage to YouTube chronicling the phenomenon. Local meteorologists vaguely explained the presence of the cloud:

“Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west – this is how the effect was produced,” said a local meteorologist.

“This is purely an optical effect, although it does look impressive. If you look closer, you can see sun rays coming through that cloud. Most likely, the sun was setting when the video was being made,” he added.

Assuring those that are concerned about industrial emissions that they “could not produce such an effect against the background of the current weather conditions,” meteorologists also say that the phenomenon isn’t even all that unusual:

“It’s a purely optical effect, even if a spectacular one. You can see really strange things if you watch the clouds regularly,” weather officials told Russia’s Vesti 24. “Several air fronts have passed Moscow recently, including an inflow of cold air from the Arctic, and they combined to produce such a phenomenon.”

Footage of the strange cloud over Moscow, below:

Strange cloud over Moscow allegedly no big deal is a post from: The Inquisitr