A rare cloud formation that is sometimes confused with a UFO has been reappearing in the same spot in New Zealand for over 100 years.
A recent NASA photograph showed the smooth white cuttlefish-bone-shaped oval cloud hovering between the towns of Middlemarch and Hyde in the Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island.
Locals in the area have fondly dubbed the mass of moisture-filled air as their “pet cloud” and it has been given the Maori named of “Taieri Pet”.
More recently the cloud has drawn comparisons to the alien in the Horror movie Nope, in which an aggressive predatory space monster conceals itself within a stationary cloud hovering over Earth.
In a fascinating black and white photograph taken in 1951, the same shaped cloud, which is known as an elongated altocumulus standing lenticular cloud (ASLC), can be seen in the same exact spot.
John Law, a meteorologist for New Zealand’s MetService told Earth Observatory: “As the cloud forms on the crest of this wave, it remains almost stationary in the sky and is shaped by the strong winds blowing through it.
“The Taieri Pet is a common feature found in the skies near Middlemarch, Otago.
“The appearance of the Taieri Pet is a great indicator of strong winds high in the atmosphere.”
Mr Law explained that strong winds from the northwest pour over the steep-sided, flat-topped Rock and Pillar Range, which runs almost perpendicular to those prevailing winds.
According to Nasa, conditions in and around these types of clouds pose aviation hazards in the form of vertical currents, severe turbulence, and icing. In some settings, lenticulars can signal that precipitation is on the way.
The space organisation’s website explains: “Lenticular clouds form when prevailing winds encounter a topographic barrier, such as a mountain range.
“Wind that is forced to flow up and over the mountains creates a kind of wave in the atmosphere. Air cools at the crest of the wave, and the water vapoor it contains condenses into clouds. Conversely, falling air leads to warming and evaporation.”
