Many talk about the phenomenon of “flying saucer clouds” appearing on the top of Ba Den mountain (Tay Ninh), some people think that it is a warning sign of aliens. And has this strange phenomenon never appeared in the world?

The “flying saucer clouds” that appeared on the top of Ba Den mountain yesterday, November 24, are known by scientists as god-like clouds, which are fixed clouds that form mainly in the troposphere, often parallel to the wind direction. From the outside, it looks like a glass or plate tray.

Clouds in the form of glass (medium) on the top of Ba Den mountain at 6 o’clock on November 24 (above) and a photo taken in the morning of November 25 provided by local people.

There are three main types of glaciated clouds: Altocumulus clouds, which are vertical glacial clouds, which are masses of clouds with a spherical structure in layers or lines; stratocumulus clouds, resembling flat glass or almonds. This type of cloud forms a gravitational wave created by wind passing through an obstacle; Cirrocumulus clouds (Cirrocumulus) are blu clouds with a glassy format. They usually form at the crests of waves, can be quite long, and often have very clear boundaries, sometimes appearing obvious objects in front of the eyes. This type of cloud has a configuration where stable air is carried upward; big section is do address to create (eg peak).

The kind of god-like cloud that we see on the top of Ba Den mountain in Tay Ninh belongs to the type of middle cloud, which in Latin is Altocumulus lenticularis. It is a glassy cloud, possibly resembling a flying saucer or being confused with the “Bay of Unidentified Objects”.

In addition to this type, there are other types of cumulus clouds: stratified (Ac str), consisting of relatively flat stratified plates or clouds; pyramidal (Ac cas), a central pyramidal cloud that can grow significantly vertically, signaling an increase in air mass instability; conspiratorial form (Ac fluorine), which is a cloud in the middle that has a plot pattern indicating greater instability.

A glacial mid-cloud usually forms when moist, stable air hits a large stationary object, such as a building or a mountain. They are most likely to form when they are angled in the direction of the wind.

In general, the phenomenon of flying saucer-like clouds on Ba Den mountain in Tay Ninh is not unusual. I find it strange because of the prompt to see this kind of cloud. Scientists think that when the air moves along the width of the earth, it often encounters obstacles such as mountains, hills or man-made structures (high-rise buildings, construction sites). This disrupts the airflow causing them to “swirl”, or fall into a turbulent area.

“Clouds of flying saucers” in the world

There are many places in the world where there are “UFO-type” clouds (bay of unidentified objects), for example the cloud appears in the sky over Dublin, the capital of Ireland (June 30, 2015). They look like flying saucers from old fall 1950s movies.

On September 14, 2021, on an airplane, while passing the Rainier fire in Washington state (USA), Terri Jonas took a photo of this “flying saucer cloud”, which looks quite similar to the middle cloud on Ba Den Mountain, a picture. The photo, which Terri said was “super fun for me!”. David Roberts also captured this image taken with a cloud telescope at Mount Rainier, Washington.

On January 18, 2021, Jill Phipps in Tucson, Arizona (USA) also photographed the same cloud. “These clouds caught my eye when I was driving home at night… They looked like flying saucers or pancakes,” she said.

Is “flying disk cloud” dangerous?

In general, the kind of clouds that appeared on the top of Ba Den mountain just now are not dangerous, but pilots using motorized aircraft often avoid flying near these god-like clouds. They fear the turbulence and sinking air the propellers create at the tail end of these clouds. However, glider pilots love it. They actively seek them out in order to climb up the forward moving air. And the exact position of the burning air mass is quite predictable, just by observing the direction of the clouds. According to Wikipedia, these “lifting waves” are usually very smooth and strong, allowing gliders to fly to considerable heights and cover great distances. As of 2020, skateboard world records for distance (more than 3,000 km) and absolute altitude (22,657m) have been set using such a lift.