Dark Roasted Blend: Punch Hole Clouds & Other Rarely Seen Cloud Formations Best of 2022/16; Best of 2015/14; Best of 2013; Best of 2012; Best of 2011; Best of 2010; Best of 2009; Best of 2008; Best of 2007; Feel-Good Issues Link Lattes About us Contact us by email Suggest a link Privacy Policy Most Popular on DRB: Dangerous Roads of the World, 1-6 Steampunk Series Retro Future! Extreme Weather Abandoned Places &Urban Exploring Magnificent Fractals Weird Signs Optical Illusions! Strangest Vehicles! Cool Ads Biggest Ships! Ekranoplans & Hydrofoils Designs by Luigi Colani Inventions by Guys Cars & Girls! Strangest Tanks 1, 2 Architectural Horrors Best of Japan! Best of Russia! Robots in Arts! Crazy Wiring! 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(original unknown) Punch Hole Clouds may appear as a circular or oval holes in a layer of supercooled clouds; sometimes they assume a form of a perfect circle and persist for quite a long time, drifting together with the cloud layer. One explanation seems to blame the air traffic (the jet contrail intersections) combined with a thermal inversion (a circular motion of a rising warm air). Here is one, observed over the Gunnison Valley in Colorado: (image credit: Cuerling) Another strange hole in the cloud, reported from Mobile, Alabama USA, Dec. 2003 (and covered by BBC News): (images credit: Joel Knain and Weatherlings) Photo taken in Melbourne, Australia in 2003: (images via) It seems both rising and sinking air currents can create the same effect. Sometimes a very stable, uniform layer of high-altitude clouds can get "punched though" by a pocket of cold air, which sinks toward the ground - creating the circular hole formation. (image credit: Neil Johnson(The Tampa Tribune) and Gwen Swinburne) These "cloud holes" can look like the footprints of some celestial being (UFO enthusiasts rejoice!) or can be amazingly round, like this pair observed in Gallatin, Tennessee by Wayne Carter: (image credit: Wayne Carter) NASA takes satellite images of this phenomenon NASA Terra satellite equipped with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has captured these images over Acadiana area in southern Louisiana - a splattering of round holes actually stretched over several states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Some were elongated, some appeared to have smaller clouds inside them. "This strange phenomenon resulted from a combination of cold temperatures, air traffic, and perhaps unusual atmospheric stability. The cloud blanket on January 29 consisted of supercooled clouds. Supercooled clouds contain water droplets that remain liquid even though the temperature is well below freezing, and such clouds are not unusual. As aircraft from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport passed through these clouds, tiny particles in the exhaust came into contact with the supercooled water droplets, which froze instantly. The larger ice crystals fell out of the cloud deck, leaving behind the “holes,” while the tiniest ice particles in the center remained aloft." (source) (images credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA) Cloud Vortices: another "holey" sky phenomena Theodore von Karman's "Cloud Vortices" are something else, again: they form when the wind encounters a barrier - such as the Aleutian islands, in this case - and the flowing eddies of cloud create a weird pattern. The image you see below was photographed from the International Space Station, and the animation shows the double row of vortices, which rotate opposite from each other. (image credit: NASA) (image credit: Cesareo de la Rosa Siqueira, via) More Incredible and Fascinating Clouds ...that make our sky worthy to look at from time to time (those who only look at the computer monitor, take note). Here is an extremely strong thunderstorm cloud that brewed over northwest Calgary: (images credit: D'Arcy Norman) Another supercell cloud in Alberta skies, this time over Edmonton: (image credit: Greg) 'shrooms: (image credit: Cloud Appreciation Society) Another cloud "wave", similar to the one over South Dakota Badlands (see here): (image credit: Barry Slade) Roll clouds... get into a small plane and start "surfing" them! - (image credit: Russell White) (image credit: Dan Bush) A Cloud Angel - (sent in by Dave) Two light-sabers get crossed in the sky: (image credit: Olga Olgert) A fire-breathing rabbit-dragon, and a fantastic cloud edge: (original unknown) A "genie", coming out of a bottle: (image credit: Raoul Pop) Spectacular lenticulars in the morning light... and a whole "pancake" stack of them, over at Mount Rainier in Washington: (image credit: National Geographic) Stormy: (image via) An interesting rainbow effect: (original unknown) Nacreous clouds - good page about them, with lots of info: (image credit: Atmospheric Optics) Prepare to get squashed, Earthlings! - (image credit: Sam LeBarron) CONTINUE TO "EXTREME WEATHER" DRB SERIES! -> Also Read: Mammatus, Lenticular and Other Extreme Clouds Fog Storm Over Badlands Extreme & Beautiful Storm Clouds Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook Scroll down for comments: | | 33 comments | RECENT ARTICLES: Visual Caffeine #8 Visual Caffeine, Issue 8 A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology Visual Caffeine #7 Visual Caffeine, Issue 7 A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology Art Deco Imperial Dreams: Art Deco Update Wings, Gears, & Glamorous Ladies 1970s SciFi DRB Pics-of-the-Day Grand Space Adventure 1970s Art "Dark Roasted Blend" - All Kinds of Weird and Wonderful Things, Discovered Daily!" DRB is a top-ranked and respected source for the best in art, travel and fascinating technology, with a highly eclectic presentation. Our in-depth articles in many categories make DRB a valued online magazine, bringing you quality info and entertainment every time you visit the site - About DRB Connect with us and become part of DRB on Facebook and Twitter. YOUR COMMENTS:: 33 Comments: Anonymous said... Awesome pictures!!! I am 47 years old and have never seen those circular holes in clouds. Are they rare? Could they be doctored photos? ALL of these photos are spectacular. ___ Destruckt said... No, it's not an photoshop pics, this is a real LOW LEVEL WINDSHEER.. wikipedia this and you will know what am I talking about. We, pilots, call it the SHARKS OF THE SKY!Beautifully scary photos!!! ___ Anonymous said... Dark roasted blend is an inspiration, how do people send you pictures, it must have taken you hours compiling this material ___ Anonymous said... "Two light-sabers get crossed in the sky" is actually evidence of chemical trails reported primarily in the US. These are commonly thought of as contrails which are another thing entirely. http://chemtrails911.com/ ___ Sigivald said... Christopher is, of course, barking mad."Chemtrails" are a conspiracy theory so utterly and obviously ridiculous that it's astounding anyone can even believe in them. ___ Anonymous said... Thanks for the Super Cool(ed) clouds.via digg ___ Anonymous said... So many of these are way too symmetrical to just be naturally caused "holes in the clouds" (eg. the long rectangular one with rounded off corners). More than likely some of these are recharge points for cloaked UFO's. Which gives a whole new significance to these pics. Anyways check it- http://www.esoterictube.com/secret-space-volume-one-the-illuminatis-conquest-of-space.html ___ Anonymous said... Russell White (#23) should be the credited photographer on that second Roll Cloud picture fyi .. man i'm a cloud geek to know that! ___ Anonymous said... Wow...those are just gorgeous! I'm going to be using one of Russell White's images tomorrow for my Zen Moment of the Day with a link back to you;) Thanks!WannaSmile.com ___ Anonymous said... Awesome cloud pictures. The fire breathing dragon is my new desktop photo. ___ Tharasia said... This is one I made some years ago in my country:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tharasia/40520993/I call it OVNI (the spanish word for UFO).Excellent blog!!! ___ spackledorfed said... the "light sabers" thing happens to be extremely common near big airports. Pensacola has crossing con-trails (sp?) every single day. ___ MAW said... What a spectacular photos. I never see cloud hole before. ___ Helmsman said... Last year I saw a wave of steam formed by a nearby pulp mill and was lucky enough to get some pictures. You can check them out here if you're interested.http://schoonerhelm.vox.com/library/post/ribbon-in-the-sky.html ___ Anonymous said... These are seriously cool pictures and love your site .Thanks for sharing. I love cloud pictures. On my blog, I have these cool clouds pictures that you also might like to look at:http://www.collthings.co.uk/2008/06/10-very-rare-clouds.htmlhttp://www.collthings.co.uk/2008/05/20-cool-clouds.html ___ Anonymous said... Cool... It's resly cool ___ Anonymous said... lots of these pictures are strong evidence and plain ol' "effects" of chemtrails. ___ Anonymous said... Very nice! Delicious! ___ Random Passerby said... The hole pictures look like poorly cloaked UFOs ._. ___ Sarah said... Kind of creepy looking at these clouds. Too bad these clouds aren't available here. ___ Wonder Boy said... latest news on "UFO clouds" which are called hole punch clouds is the moscow punch hole cloud seen in October 2009images of that and other strange punch hole clouds are available http://www.xearththeory.com/how_why_what_are_punch_hole_clouds_fallstreak_holes.htmlon another page it shows a punch hole cloud in the shape of a starfish! not sure how that fits in with the theory of water ice crystals though.http://www.xearththeory.com/punch_hole_clouds_fallstreak_holes.html ___ Unknown said... I have several photos of 4 punch hole cloud formations with wispy tendrils that happened in harrisburg pa in the same photo. SO THE EXPLANATION OF A JET OR SOMETHING SIMILAR IS VERY UNLIKELY.Now someone please explain [email protected]://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30546&id=100000407064327#/photos.php?id=100000407064327 ___ Anonymous said... ...To wsmithpa......A few months ago,I saw what you are describing......I was on lunch break, sitting outside in my car in the parking lot where I work in Mechanicsburg,Pa.......I think we saw the same thing!......Unfortunately,I did not have a camera to take photos of the strangest clouds I have EVER seen......They just CANT be natural formations......I hope you read this......I would like to see the photos you took of them... ___ Anonymous said... i live near philly and have seen these holes in the clouds twice, once over springfield (two pretty close to eachother) and once over the limerick area (near reading). when i looked it up last year (i saw the second instance a couple of weeks ago), a woman further north in PA had taken a few photos from near her.this could be "flying discs," or maybe its something from earth "shooting" up, or something from space "shooting" down. perhaps reconnaissance satellites which can punch a hole in clouds so as to see what is below?or it could be the result of natural plasma-discharge phemonomea (norway spiral), which is probably the worst-case possibilityi don't know what they are but for those who think they are "natural" or "normal". . . nothing i can say to youthis is either natural electric phenomena (but probably not a good sign if it is), or tech-made.not gonna give you links - if you're too lazy or self-content to look this stuff up then. . . move along, nothing to see here. . . ___ Anonymous said... The hole punch clouds are Sylphs. Anybody interested and with an open mind should look up ChemBusters or "Cloudbusters" by Don Croft. If you believe in Angels then your visual confirmation is the Sylph in the sky. The 2 lines ARE Contrails and whoever the tard is that says its a "conspiracy theory" obviously doesn't look up into the sky once in a while. They are laid down several times a day in all highly populated areas. :) ___ irina said... ism amazing photografy, can i use this? ___ сплав по реке said... I've seen somthing like these pictures last year during our hiking tour to Ural Mountains. I'll try to publish my photos too here. ___ Anonymous said... Amazing pictures. Please read more about H.A.A.R.P you will be suprised what they are planning. ___ CarbBlocker said... These are some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen in my lifetime! ___ Anonymous said... "The hole punch clouds are Sylphs. Anybody interested and with an open mind should look up ChemBusters or "Cloudbusters" by Don Croft. If you believe in Angels then your visual confirmation is the Sylph in the sky. The 2 lines ARE Contrails and whoever the tard is that says its a "conspiracy theory" obviously doesn't look up into the sky once in a while. They are laid down several times a day in all highly populated areas. :)"You don't need an open mind. You don't need one to believe BS. ___ Anonymous said... These 'holes' are not 'cloud formations. They are caused by heating an area or spot in the 'cloud formation' that is already there! Look up the NanoShield project at www.lifeboat.com to learn more. ___ Anonymous said... FOR ANYONE THAT DOES NOT BELIEVE IN CHEMTRAILS PLEASE LOOK UP THE OTHER OFFICIAL NAME FOR THEM. GEOENINEERING IS ONE OF THE TITLES FOR IT. http://royalsociety.org/SRM-governance-initiative/http://www.foxtrot-bravo.com/CHEMTRAIL.htmlAND THIS ONE TALKS ABOUT HAARP ON AN EU REPORT. DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE THROWING INSULTS AT PEOPLE. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A4-1999-0005+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN ___ Anonymous said... Your punch hole clouds are the result of cloud seeding with CO2 look it up and you will find identical pictures. Open air weather modification is one aspect of the larger geo-engineering program that is killing off everything living on the planet. please take the time to go to this site and read all the facts that have been openly admitted by world gov. Aslo current and on going weather modification programshttp://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/?q=weather-modifications ___ Post a Comment << Home SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS: Don't miss: The Ultimate Guide to NEW SF&F Writers! 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