Clouds like flying saucers on top of Chua Chan mountain

The clouds covering the top of Chua Chan mountain look like flying saucers, making many people excited.

On the morning of October 31, many people going to work in Xuan Loc district, Long Khanh city, Cam My district. were surprised to see large clouds "gathering on the top of Chua Chan mountain" like flying saucers. The white clouds on the top of the mountain against the blue sky created a strange scene, scientists call the phenomenon "lens clouds".

Mr. Minh Hien, in Lang Minh commune, Xuan Loc district, said the phenomenon appeared early in the morning. "I went to the field and looked towards the mountain and saw it. This is not the first time, it has appeared occasionally for many years ," he said.

Some people in Long Khanh City and Cam My District, dozens of kilometers away, could still clearly see the large, thick cloud covering the entire mountain . "Due to its high altitude, the mountain top is often cloudy, but this is the first time I have seen such a large and beautifully shaped cloud ," said Ms. Hang, in Long Khanh City.

Lenticular clouds on top of Chua Chan mountain on the morning of October 31. (Photo: Nhu Hien).

According to the Hanoi Astronomical Society (HAS), the above phenomenon is actually lenticular clouds . These are stationary clouds, shaped like lenses, formed in high mountain ranges.

Chua Chan Mountain is about 110km from Ho Chi Minh City, 837m above sea level. This is the highest mountain in Dong Nai, the second highest in the Southeast. In Vietnam, besides Chua Chan Mountain, Ba Den Mountain also often has this lens cloud.

Sharing with VnExpress , Dr. Phan Thanh Hien, lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Space and Applications, University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) explained that the phenomenon of lens clouds appears when the wind carrying moisture moves and encounters mountains, is blocked, and will flow up to meet cold air and condense. Because the wind flow is pushed up continuously, regularly and stably, it will create ripples stacked on top of each other. Usually, at high mountain peaks, the temperature drops lower, reaching the threshold for condensation, so the cloud halos look like "hats" created on the mountain peaks.

According to Dr. Hien, this strange cloud phenomenon depends on the temperature, that is, the temperature is low enough and the humidity is high enough to condense . "This is not a rare phenomenon, but it is rare and has a special shape, so it is quite interesting and curious."

Conditions for the formation of lenticular clouds resembling flying saucers. (Video: Brut Nature).