johnsmachines

I have hesitated to post these photos. I do not think that I am seeing things.

I was present at the Avalon Airshow on 28 March 2025, when there was an horrific crash, and the pilot was seriously injured. I was at the opposite end of the runway when the crash occurred and did not see it, and this post is not about that.

Earlier in the afternoon, while walking around the exhibits of warplanes and weapons, and watching enthralled at the air displays of stunt planes, jets, enormous transporters etc. I noticed this slightly strange cloud towards the west. The sun was just above it. But it was different from every other cloud in the sky. It was darker presumably due to the shadowed surface being the visible surface, and unlike all of the other clouds in the sky, over a period of at least an hour or two, IT DID NOT MOVE.

Very strange. So at 4:45pm I took the above photo. There is a jet flying to the left of the tower. The camera is a Nikon P1000. 8.5mm which equates to about 50mm on an SLR.

OK. Nothing too remarkable, but still, a bit odd.

So I kept on watching it.

There were multiple staged ground explosions, some producing lots of black smoke, but the smoke dissipated quickly and I did not think that it was anything to do with the cloud. Also more SW than westerly.

Then I noticed something which also struck me as quite unusual. Shapes at the edges of the western cloud with STRAIGHT EDGES and seeming to form TRIANGLES.

“PAREIDOLIA” is the tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in music. (Creative Commons Attribution -Share-Alike-License). So since then I have frequently looked at clouds to see if the straight lines and triangle are common, or a product of my admittedly slightly dodgy eyesight. With NONE seen again.

Further photographs on 28/3/25 followed, at roughly the same zoom setting. These are non edited, except where I have roughly inserted lines and arrows.

4:49pm with my squiggles.

5:54pm About an hour later, after the crash. All flying was cancelled, and we were waiting for announcements about the pilot. The cloud is still there with the sun behind. Less well defined sharp edges and triangular shapes.

So. Pareidolia. Vivid imagination. Odd cloud shapes. UFO’s.

These were visible with the naked eye, so not just camera lens aberrations from shooting into the sun.

Look at the first shot, taken from a video which appeared on the TV news. Do you see the triangles?

Clouds responding to massive jet exhausts on a windless evening? (at no time did I see planes flying through or near this cloud.)

Whatever, I will continue to watch the clouds.