'Fire dragon' appeared on top of Mount Fuji (Japan), how can it be explained?

Mount Fuji (Fuji) is 3,776 meters high, the highest mountain in Japan, and is also considered one of the greatest symbols of this country. For the Japanese, Mount Fuji has important spiritual significance and has also been a source of inspiration for many generations of artists.

The beauty of Mount Fuji is not only in the mountain itself, but also in the natural phenomena related to the mountain.

The most recent is probably the image of a 'fire dragon' on top of Mount Fuji , recorded as being taken early this morning, November 29. On top of Mount Fuji is a strange orange strip of winding light, really creating an image that resembles a fire dragon.

"Fire Dragon" flies over Mount Fuji. (Photo: True North).

Many netizens were amazed by this image and commented that "the dragon has come out of the mountain and is flying high" , meaning that the dragon still resides on this mountain. Because according to many ancient legends, the dragon is a symbol of happiness and luck, and is also considered a god residing on Mount Fuji. Therefore, in many ancient works, Japanese artists often included the image of a dragon when painting Mount Fuji, according to the website of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Although many people think the image of a 'fire dragon' on top of Mount Fuji today has spiritual significance, scientifically it is actually an orange cloud at dawn that happens to have a curving shape like a dragon.

Dragons are often depicted in ancient works about Mount Fuji. (Photo: Hokusai/ Roning Gallery).

So why are there orange clouds ? Because at dawn (and dusk), the Sun is closer to the horizon, the light has to travel a longer distance to reach the observer's eyes. Due to the Rayleigh scattering phenomenon , most of the light with short wavelengths (blue, green, etc.) has been scattered many times, only light with long wavelengths (red, orange, yellow) reaches the observer's eyes.

In addition, due to many meteorological factors around the high mountain, the top of Mount Fuji also often has more unusual clouds than other places. People have often taken pictures of 'flying saucer clouds' (lenticular clouds) or other rare types of clouds on the top of this impressive mountain.

A unique image of Mount Fuji with clouds like a hat. (Photo: Raymond R Carr).