A mysterious cloud spotted above Russia’s historic city of Moscow has been spotted sending shivers through the paranormal community both online and off. The cloud appeared on October 7th, hovering above Moscow Ring Road. The road was heavily congested with traffic, and the video posted appears to be taken from the passenger’s seat. The bizarre formation looks like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the explanations circulating are no less sensational.
The Ministry of Defense’s Nick Pope, former UFO analyst, was quoted as saying, “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s a true mystery.” Elsewhere a group of online forum-goers were speculating it may be something paranormal, such as a cloaking device for an alien ship. “... a temporary magnetic polar shift” was blamed by another viewer, causing “…a local Aurora Borealis halo by re-focusing the Van Allen belt.” The viewer went on to say that “-this can be caused by a Tesla energy weapon ...” It is unknown if this post was intended to be taken seriously. Aside from a couple of other instances, however, the major public has been accepting of a more mundane explanation.
A spokesman from Moscow’s Weather Service, however, had a different explanation for the clouds. “Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west; this is how the effect was produced.” The spokesman went on to describe the Sun’s interaction with the formation, causing it to refract and give it the look of a glowing halo, saying, “It does look impressive… Most likely the sun was setting when the video was being made.” The spokesman added that many things can be seen in clouds, depending on where they are located and the time of day, and that those who regularly stare up at the clouds will observe several magnificent things. The mysterious halo cloud formation resembled one that had been seen before hovering above Dorset, UK, since dubbed the ‘Dorset Doughnut.’
Some environmentalists, however, are not so accepting of this explanation, citing high amounts of carbon and smog in the atmosphere as the primary source of the halo. Weathering this storm of conjecture are meteorologists, who contend that the smog in the area could not have produced a ringed cloud given the amount of Doppler activity in the area. They say if the weather fails to produce any wind, such as in a basin like Los Angeles, the smog can build up over time and even manifest visually. If there is a great amount of wind, however, as there was in Moscow the day this cloud appeared, then smog would disperse long before it became dense like was seen.
It’s possible the cloud could have been some sort of omen or sign, but that’s up to the viewer to decide. Happily, however, the cloud did dissipate without anyone getting harmed, and no report of a massive Tesla energy beam cutting through the sky was reported accompanying the formation.
