UAE residents were left scratching their heads over the weekend after witnessing a mysterious-looking hole in the sky above the city of Al Ain.
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شوهدت هذه الظاهرة النادرة والجميلة صباح اليوم في مدينة العين
— إبراهيم الجروان (@ibrahimaljarwan) 17 марта 2019 г.
تُسمى hole punch cloud
أو ظاهرة fallstreak hole pic.twitter.com/NbOd9zofNk
The phenomenon was filmed and photographed by multiple social media users, who couldn’t help but wonder whether it was an alien invasion, a UFO parking space, or even the ascension of a prophet.
— Jim O'Shaughnessy (@jposhaughnessy) 18 марта 2019 г.
It’s a UFO
— john smith (@UFOsAREfromGod) 18 марта 2019 г.
In my dreams extrterrestirals blast bad humans!
— Heal a Horse Cozumel (@ranchouniverso) 18 марта 2019 г.
UFO parking space??
— Saxon de Kock (@Saxondk) 18 марта 2019 г.
maybe a prophet ascending?
— bryce swan (@drdivinity) 18 марта 2019 г.
One Arabic-speaking netizen even suggested that it looked “as if God has thrown a stone into a lake”, but scientists were quick to unravel the mystery, explaining that the phenomenon was neither divine nor extra-terrestrial.
#fallstreak_hole in #al_ain #uae pic.twitter.com/7aJodZhAdT
— Khaled Almansoori (@KKAlmansoori) 18 марта 2019 г.
It is a “fallstreak hole” or “hole punch cloud”, which occur when supercool water droplets that have not yet frozen blend with ice crystals caused by planes passing through the cloud.
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The ice crystals then start to fall, causing droplets to evaporate, which leaves a massive hole in the middle of the cloud.