Near Lazy Mountain, Alaska, a fog of mystery prompted social media conspiracy theories on Thursday.
A macabre rising sliver of a cloud with finger-like trails has been explained as a meteor, Russian missile, plane disaster, and UFO.
Alaska State Troopers stated that a rescue team assigned to look for a wreck on Lazy Mountain discovered nothing odd.
Mysterious fog
Marc Thunis/Unsplash
The appearance of a gigantic worm-like cloud over Alaska's Lazy Mountain this week sparked conspiracy theories and prompted an inquiry and explanation by Alaska State Troopers.
It occured around 7 a.m., and the trail of smoke was photographed on Thursday, April 7, and it resembled anything from a falling meteor to a burnt airplane.
There was speculation of an explosion, a crashed UFO, and a Russian weapon tied to the ongoing battle over Ukraine on social media.
Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center were alerted to rumors of a probable jet accident.
"No complaints of overdue aircraft or ELT activations indicating an aircraft crash have been received," According to Alaska State Troopers, as per The Bellingham Herald.
A rescue crew in a helicopter conducted a mission around the Lazy Mountain region this morning and found nothing odd and no traces of wrecked aircraft.
Social media users soon started poking holes in that narrative, with some speculating on a government cover-up of a UFO crash and/or covert weapons testing.
"It appears to be a meteor. I'm curious as to where it landed," Cassi Joi wrote on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook page,
According to further inquiry, a huge commercial airplane was flying in the region at the time the photographs and video were shot.
On its route to JFK airport in New York, the plane was called and reported regular flight operations.
Troopers believed the photographs and videos show a vivid contrail from a commercial airplane mixed with the rising sun, resulting in a one-of-a-kind atmospheric scene.
Meanwhile, another mysterious-looking cloud formation is the favorite among conspiracy theoriests.
Lenticular clouds are formed when strong, wet winds blow over difficult terrain, such as mountains or valleys, according to meteorologists, as per the National Geographic.
The wind may cool as it passes over huge features, causing it to condense into disk-shaped clouds that form perpendicular to the airflow direction.
Because of their height and form, when the clouds are photographed, they quickly go viral.
Another allusion to their form is the Latin word lenticular, which means lens-like.
Lenticular clouds, which may develop in various regions across the world, have been related to several previous accounts of UFO sightings.
Hole-punch clouds, created by tiny snowstorms in thin, subfreezing cloud layers, have been blamed for other UFO encounters.
Mountain waves in the air are apparent as lenticular clouds. These waves, on the other hand, can occur outside of clouds and even when no clouds are present.
They may produce very powerful gusty winds at one location while still air is only a few hundred meters distant from the ground.
Because of the turbulence that lenticular clouds produce, powered aircraft pilots avoid flying near them.
Glider pilots, on the other hand, enjoy them because they can predict where the air will rise based on the shape of the clouds.
