weather phenomenon
Spectacular cloud inspires people in Turkey
An eye? A UFO? A special sky spectacle in Turkey!
© Sinan Balcikoca / Picture Alliance
Understandable when you first think of Photoshop when you see this: a cloud that looks like an eye, tinted pink by the sunset. Yes, it really is real.
Some recognize an eye in the pink cloud, for others it looks like a UFO. One thing is clear: most people have never seen a cloud like the one in Bursa, Turkey, and react accordingly with surprise to the photos.
Although the cloud looks like it’s from another planet – or how poorly inserted by image editing – Photoshop or extraterrestrial forces weren’t at work here. Instead, meteorologists have a very simple and unspectacular explanation for the unusual cloud formation.
More pictures of the mysterious cloud
According to the Washington Post, the so-called “lens clouds” are said to form primarily in areas in which there are stratified environments or in which the atmosphere is stratified for other reasons and in which obstacles on the ground disrupt the flow of air masses. This is the case in Bursa: the Turkish town is located at the foothills of the more than 8,000 meter high Uludağ mountain.
Cloud formed by meteorological phenomenon
At this location, Uludağ functions as a sort of spoiler for the air masses over Bursa: while the upper layers of air move normally and parallel to the ground, the Uludağ spurs push the near-ground, moisture-saturated air upwards, where it then cools and forms a cloud forms. The combination of upper layers of air and winds blowing through from below creates the spectacular cloud formation.
Such cloud formations are common in the western United States, for example, where the humid air over the Pacific meets the mountain ranges of the Rocky Mountains. There was a similar photo here in northern California in 2020, which also inspired many people.
A similar cloud in northern California.
© Paul Zerr/Shasta-Trinity National Forest
In the case of the cloud in Bursa, adding the right time of day made the cloud look even more impressive at sunset.
Sources: “Washington Post”, BBC