Ancient man respected and revered nature as a deity. No wonder, because the primitive brain was often unable to explain some natural phenomena and perceived them as a miracle. Modern people try to find a rational explanation for everything they see, but the most unusual and rare natural phenomena still strike the imagination, delight, or even frighten.
1. Light poles
This is not a northern light, but a completely different phenomenon, which is called "light (or solar) pillars." At low temperatures, in the frosty air, tiny ice crystals float, creating a kind of icy mist above the surface of the earth. Crystals reflect sunlight and, as a result, bright light columns
On the photo: Light pillars above Laramie, Wyoming, USA
2. Lightning above the river Catatumbo
Over the place where the Katatumbo River flows into Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela), lightning flashes almost every night for about ten hours. In total, about 1.2 million bits are produced per year. They are visible for several hundred kilometers, due to what this natural phenomenon is often called the "Maracaibo Lighthouse".
On the photo: Lightning over Katatumbo (Venezuela)
3. Brocken's ghost
The so-called Brocken's ghost is like a giant shadow from a human figure, surrounded by light, and often by iridescent rings. Meteorologists often call this phenomenon a "glory". This stunning phenomenon is observed high in the mountains, during the fog. In fact, the observer most often sees his own distorted shadow.
On the photo: Brocken's ghost on Mount Ontake, Japan
4. Tubular clouds
Tubular (or vymeobraznye) clouds often appear before a strong hurricane.
In the photo: Tubular clouds over the city of Regina, Canada, June 26, 2012
5. Morning glory
No one knows exactly how and why these clouds are formed. They can stretch for a thousand kilometers and hang at an altitude of about one and a half kilometers above the surface of the earth. This phenomenon was observed in different regions of the world, but most often (every spring) it occurs in the vicinity of the Australian city of Burktown. With almost no wind, clouds can travel at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour.
In the photo: view of the morning glory from an airplane near Burktown, Australia
6. The false sun
A false sun, or scientifically pargelium, is a bright spot created by the reflection of sunlight passing through a cloud of small ice crystals.
7. Lenticular clouds
Lenticular clouds (lenticular) form around mountain ridges.
In the photo: lenticular clouds at Mount Khotaka, Japan
8. The Fiery Rainbow
A fiery (or roundly-horizontal) rainbow appears when the sun is high in the sky, and in cirrus clouds there are quite a few flat, horizontally arranged hexagonal ice crystals. In addition, the necessary condition for the emergence of this rare phenomenon is the latitude (the closer to the north, the less chance to see a fiery rainbow) and frosty weather.
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