Crop Circles in the Sky

A video of a glowing ring of clouds hovering above Moscow spread across the internet last week. Some are explaining the phenomenon as being an example of a hole punch cloud--a mysterious formation in which mid- or high-altitude cirrus or cirro-stratus clouds form blankets of intricate patterns that have been described as, "crop circles in the sky."  It is conjectured that the holes are created by jet planes that fly through the formations--but this has yet to be proven.

In a further twist, Meteorology News reported that the hole punch cloud in Moscow might have been the result of experiments the city was conducting in the atmosphere, with the goal of decreasing the amount of snow that blankets the city every winter. The article describes the often tragic results caused by previous attempts mankind has made to manipulate the weather.

Image: "Eerie Cloud Over South Mississipi..."  by teambrodiecharters on Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing.