Every now and then, someone sees something in the sky that the average person can’t explain. Last month, it was the strange floating city in China , and this week brought us the mysterious lights above Los Angeles. Only a day after California residents started claiming to see UFOs, a series of unsettling saucer-shaped clouds started appearing over Cape Town, South Africa.
According to Fox 8, on Sunday, social media users began posting pictures of the startling UFO clouds, which looked like discs hovering over the city for hours.
Monique Jackson, an observer of the Cape Town UFO clouds, said, “There were just these massive UFO type clouds and they became more defined as time passed.”
You can see pictures of the UFO clouds below.
Several people on social media websites were absolutely convinced the UFO clouds were real evidence of extraterrestrial activity, such as Dr. Turi, a celebrity astrologer. He posted images of the flying saucers to Facebook with the following caption.
“These clouds formations are ‘omens’ or signs created by the Draconis to prepare humanity for more UFO’s phenomenon in the near future. While the non cosmic conscious conspiracy heads will blame HAARP for the government ‘manipulating’ the weather, the fact is much more ET’s related. Only a true MJ12 can offer the public information that a conventional rational science could never accept or understand.”
But according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, the UFO clouds can, in fact, be explained by modern science. He claims they are “lenticular clouds.” Van Dam also took to Facebook to provide a more naturalistic account for the saucers in the sky.
“These are fairly common clouds known as stratocumulus standing lenticularis,” he said. “They form when conditions are just right. Air flows along the surface of the earth and reaches some sort of obstruction like a mountain or valley.”
National Geographic agrees with Van Dam, saying the UFO clouds in Cape Town are nothing to fear. They explain that the saucer shapes form when strong, moist air flows over rough terrain and cools as a result, condensing into discs perpendicular to the direction of air flow.
Lenticular clouds have reportedly been the cause of many alleged UFO sightings in the past, most of which have quickly been debunked by climate scientists and meteorologists. The name comes from the Latin word for “lens-shaped.”
Despite an awareness of the scientific explanation, most social media users couldn’t resist comparing the UFO clouds to an alien invasion or making up some other creative cause.
Instagram user monre44 said, “The aliens have been moniting [sic] cape town for years now.”
Another Instagram user said the UFO clouds looked more like “tornadoes on pause mode.”
There is a mysterious blue light in the night sky in LA & in Cape Town we had UFO looking clouds tonight. Whad up?
— nadia boucher coombe (@NadiaBCoombe) November 8, 2015
It looks even better now, like a bunch of ufo’s in the clouds. #capetown mountain tornado. #cloudporn https://t.co/Jpw8t5Bgji
— Troy Davies (@retroyspective) November 8, 2015
Wanted to take a pick of the clouds rolling into Cape Town. Is that a UFO above Table Mountain or what?! pic.twitter.com/aLoo6yYd6M
— Daddy (@LifeisSavage) January 8, 2014
What do you think? Are the UFO clouds in Cape Town an omen of alien intervention or a simple result of climate and weather? Leave a comment below.
For more on Cape Town, South Africa, read the recent Inquistr travel report on the city, described as the “Mother City on the Cape of Good Hope.”
[Photo by Instagram/Kyle Mijlof]
