Many residents in New Hampshire, USA, were quite bewildered earlier this week when they spotted bizarre-shaped clouds appearing in the sky.
Some people regarded these clouds as a form of art, while others believed they represented the wrath of the gods, reminiscent of apocalyptic scenes from science fiction movies.
Images of the sky featuring these peculiar clouds were shared on social media, sparking a significant amount of debate. Many opinions suggested that these images were merely products of graphic software rather than real phenomena.
Images of strange clouds forming over the sky in the USA. (Photo: Crystal Lee).
However, according to Crystal Lee, one of the witnesses who saw and photographed the unusual clouds in New Hampshire, she asserted that the pictures she took are real. She mentioned that about an hour after the clouds appeared, it began to rain, and the clouds gradually disappeared.
In fact, the phenomenon of these clouds is known as Asperitas clouds, also referred to as wave clouds or apocalyptic clouds. This type of cloud is very rare, characterized by a distinctly undulating structure at the lower part, forming waves on the underside of the clouds, creating the illusion of a choppy sea in the sky.
Although this type of cloud has been observed for some time and was officially recognized in 2009, scientists have yet to fully evaluate it, and the exact formation process of these clouds remains unclear.
“Asperitas clouds have a beautiful shape, appear unusually, and have not been studied thoroughly. Therefore, we speculate that Asperitas clouds might be related to lens-shaped clouds forming near mountains or associated with thunderstorms in the troposphere,” explained the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regarding Asperitas clouds.
Asperitas clouds can appear anywhere at any time of the year, giving a foreboding and gloomy feeling akin to an apocalypse, which is why this type of cloud is also known as “apocalyptic clouds.”
Despite the ominous and frightening appearance of Asperitas clouds, their presence does not bring about extreme weather phenomena such as storms, tornadoes, or lightning. Instead, they usually only lead to some rain and tend to dissipate once the rain begins.
