10 Most Incredible Hole Punch Clouds on Earth

Photo: H. Raab, Vesta

At first glance the image above might look like a UFO or even some portent of the apocalypse - but IT is actually nothing more than a cloud - a 'hole punch cloud', or a fallstreak cloud. Read on to find out more about this spectacular phenomenon.

10. Alabama, US
Photo: NASA

The foundation of a hole punch cloud is traditionally a mid-or high-altitude cloud type such as cirrus or cirro-stratus. Such clouds generally form above 20,000 feet in the atmosphere.

9. iPhone shot taken at midday
Photo: disownedlight

Hole punch clouds are frequently composed of both ice crystals and super-cooled water droplets (water that is below the freezing temperature but still exists in liquid form).

8. Omarama, New Zealand
Photo: Dollsworth

The actual hole is usually caused by a jet plane passing through the cloud.

7. Florida, US
Photo: Flying Jenny

Sometimes when the atmospheric conditions are right and the airplane punches through the cloud, it can cause rain. Sometimes the liquid water droplets freeze and immediately drop as snow.

6. Mount Pleasant, Utah
Photo: arbyreed

While scientists do not believe that the extra precipitation left by airplanes punching holes in clouds is enough to change global climate patterns, they do believe that regionally, this phenomenon could potentially enhance snowfall.

5. Rohnert Park, California
Photo: km6xo

When these clouds form, they tend to persist and are large enough to be seen for miles around.

4. Bowen Gulch, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Photo: mullerb

While these cloud formations are rare, they are not unique to one geographic area and have been photographed from the United States to Russia.

3. Florida, US
Photo: Flying Jenny

Besides the typical circular cloud shape, some hole punch clouds are oblong cigar shapes, pentagrams and even lines of hole punch clouds joined together.

2. Mount Pleasant, Utah
Photo: arbyreed

The special cloud formation found inside hole punch clouds is why these clouds are sometimes called Fallstreak Holes.

1. Garden State Parkway, New Jersey
Photo: Anita363

Back in 1999 when a hole punch cloud appeared over Moscow, scores of supernatural enthusiasts were gripped by the astonishing phenomena and speculated that it could be an alien mothership!

Sources: 1, 2, 3