Larry Sessions

They are not exactly uncommon here in Denver, although I have never personally seen one quite this spectacular. But sometimes they are so prominent as to be visible in satellite photos if you look closely enough. Others have been famously reported as UFOs and no wonder, they are weird.

This hot pink flying saucer cloud is the cover shot in a new photo book of strange cloud formations, particularly clouds that look like things. The book, called “Hot Pink Flying Saucers” in the U.S., is the second from the Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS), of which I am a proudly certificated member (but no, I do not get a kickback!). It is an inexpensive trade paperback with some really interesting photos. I mention it here in support of the CAS, but also because it would make a great small Christmas gift. (Earlier I looked at the Society and “The Cloudspotter’s Guide” in my September 25 blog, Bring in the Clouds.

Alas, this image is not really of an alien spacecraft (but wouldn’t it be fun if it were!). It is of a particular cloud formation called a “lenticularis,” seen over Syria and “lenticularis” refers to the lens-like shape. Such clouds are due to particular atmospheric conditions, and are most common near mountains, and are often spectacular near California’s Mount Shasta and others. The type seen here in Denver often has an orange or red or pink color in the sunset, but are more of the rolling tube type, called a standing wave altocumulous lenticularis. It isn’t hard to imagine why some folks have actually reported these as UFO’s, but it is simply one of many strange formations in the clouds (or elsewhere in Nature) that can be mistaken for something else. If you have never seen one of these yourself, it will definitely look odd when you do.

Other photos in the book include images of Salvador Dali, the Michelin Man, the Grim Reaper, poodles, dragonflies and my favorite, a pig with six legs!

The latter is in fact the title and cover photo of the UK version of the book, photographed ( in Lincolnshire, UK. Loxley calls it “Cumulopiggussextoleggus” but it is not a natural cloud formation, but rather a steam condensation cloud from a power station.

It is a good exercise of the imagination to find recognizable shapes in random things and I have seen many things in clouds, from the childhood ponies and elephants to more complicated figures sometimes too bizarre to mention. (I see patterns in other things as well, including a shower curtain we used to have whose random patterning revealed lions, alligators, apes and a wide variety of other things. My wife, perhaps justifiably, thought I was crazy. But I “seen ‘em”!)

Whether day or night, there usually is something interesting to see in the sky. Keep looking up!

LS

Photos used with permission of the Cloud Appreciation Society.