Japanese residents spotted colorful clouds in the skies over Kyushu which resembled the haze of smoke and gleamed red, white and blue.
According to WeatherNews, the unusual occurrence was caused by the launch of the Epsilon-3 Rocket which took place in the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 6:06 a.m. on Thursday morning.
【九州の空に変な雲!?】
— ウェザーニュース (@wni_jp) 17 января 2018 г.
今朝、九州から空に変な雲が！！！という報告が相次ぎました。これはイプシロンロケットの打ち上げによるもの。朝焼けのグラデーションに映り、キレイに見えました。https://t.co/MY9ntx5D8y pic.twitter.com/jv42DCj17W
The launch was scheduled for an earlier time but was delayed amid poor weather conditions.
As reports say, the peculiar view was partially caused by the lingering moisture in the air which made the rocket's contrails over Kyushu look extraordinary.
愛媛の空にも。 pic.twitter.com/0eqGmbG3U9
— たんたんたぬき (@6m1OUkrQxQoOco4) 18 января 2018 г.
Social media users were quick to publish images of the outstanding clouds online. Some of them were stunned by their beauty, compared them to "god's graffiti" and called them "unbelievable."
イプシロン3号機の打ち上げ後のタイムラプスを作製してみました。思いの外素晴らしい映像になりました！！夜の打ち上げ最高！！！#イプシロン #たちばな天文台 #イプシロン3号機 pic.twitter.com/XJzTm1fhj9
— たちばな天文台 (@tachibanaobs) 17 января 2018 г.
Others, however, were rather "scared" of the rockets flying around and leaving awkward traces in the sky.
