Aliens descending upon the Mother City may seem like a far-fetched idea, but in 2020 anything is possible. If you looked up at the sky in Blouberg on Wednesday [November 25], you might have been shocked at what appeared to be an impending alien invasion.
Recently, Blouberg local Brian Jansen van Rensburg captured a truly mesmerising sight of a cloud formation replicating a UFO appearance.
In the images, the entire sky is covered with clouds except for a small circular section, through which light beams shine through as if a UFO had created the hole and was about to land. The dark moodiness of the cloud cover adds a sense of dread.
While alien conspiracies are more entertaining, the reality is that it’s just down to a unique cloud formation caused by specific weather conditions.
The clouds in the above image appear to be Stratus clouds, which often look like thin, white sheets covering the entire sky. These clouds form at low altitudes when air currents push cold air above a blanket of warm air, causing the moisture in the air to quickly condense.
Sometimes the mist clears up in certain portions of the clouds, letting a beam of light through.
This isn’t the first time the skies left us feeling dazed. Back in 2015, Cape Town was trending worldwide for a truly bizarre cloud formation that made it appear as if multiple UFOs were floating in the air.
View this post on Instagram
This unusual formation is called lenticular clouds, otherwise known as “saucer clouds” because of their UFO-like appearance. These clouds have a lens-like appearance and a saucer-esque shape.
View this post on Instagram
They form over high altitudes like mountain ranges. As the wind flows over these large features it starts to cool and condense into disk-shaped clouds. These cloud formations don’t move, making them very different from other clouds.
View this post on Instagram
Also read: ‘Angel’ cloud on Table Mountain stuns viewers
Picture: Facebook / Brian Jansen van Rensburg