Page 16 - 201006 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - June 2010

June 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 30/06/2010 11:46 PM Page 16 16 Strangle Hole-Punch Clouds Explained Strange Hole-Punch Clouds Explained By Lisa Grossman Airplanes can punch holes in clouds and make it rain, new research shows. As propeller or jet airplanes pass through the right atmospheric conditions, they make liquid water droplets freeze and immediately drop as snow, leaving a circular fissure behind. Odd clouds can sometimes elude explanation for decades, and these mysterious gaps in the sky, aptly called hole-punch clouds or channel clouds, have been puzzling sky gazers and scientists alike since the 1940s. A 1968 article in the magazine Weatherwise called them “A Meteorological Whodunit?” As recently as October 2009, headlines touted a “Mystery UFO Halo Over Moscow.” Earlier studies had suggested a link between hole-punch clouds and airplanes, though the mechanism was unclear. any droplets,” he said. previously secret UFO files. Previous research also suggests that “My initial impression is that it’s In Borghezio's declaration, he propeller planes could make snow fall when reasonable,” commented Patrick Chuang, a mentioned a 1978 United Nations summit in they flew through supercooled clouds, where cloud expert at the University of California, which "the 33rd General Assembly ... formally water droplets remain liquid despite subfreezing Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the new recognized UFOs as a valid issue." temperatures. But until recently, a direct work. When I read Borghezio's reference, it connection between airplanes, hole-punch The researchers then linked satellite struck an obvious chord in my memory. clouds and snowfall was missing. Now, a team images of hole-punch clouds to flight schedules Obvious because I was directly involved, and to of atmospheric scientists report observing all to show that jet aircraft, not just propeller a large degree, responsible for bringing UFOs to three in the June Bulletin of the American planes, can also punch holes and produce snow. the attention of the U.N. that year. Meteorological Society. The supercooled droplets freeze after passing Let me share some of that experience Andrew Heymsfield of the National over the jet planes’ wings, Heymsfield said. with you. Center for Atmospheric Research and “We know exactly which aircraft In 1977, Eric Gairy, the prime minister colleagues flew a research plane through the produced the holes,” he said. “Researchers had of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, was snow produced by a hole-punch cloud west of previously linked a lot of snow to propeller struggling to generate U.N. interest in his Denver International Airport in 2007. The plane aircraft, but they hadn’t made the connection to personal crusade to establish an international was loaded with instruments for studying how jet aircraft.” committee dedicated to studying and sharing ice forms in clouds. Radar from the ground “There are a lot more jets flying around UFO reports. picked up a strange echo in their wake, than there are propeller aircraft, so there’s much Meantime, I had recently produced a indicating oddly-shaped snowflakes. more opportunity to generate this effect,” he documentary record album (yes, vinyl!) for “We didn’t know it, but we went right added. CBS Inc., called "UFOs: The Credibility through this precipitation feature that was Not all flights through banks of clouds Factor." It featured the voices of military, spotted from the ground,” Heymsfield said. will produce snow. About 7.8 percent of the government and scientific experts coming Video from the flight showed a hole in a patch Earth’s surface is covered with clouds at the together for the first time on record to talk about of altocumulus clouds (see below), and two right elevation for supercooled droplets to form. the possibility that some UFOs might really be inches of snowfall directly below the hole. And because jet aircraft don’t generally cruise alien spacecraft. Heymsfield and colleagues examined at those altitudes, they may only form hole- After that album, I wanted to do more to flight records for the nearby airport and linked punch clouds when they take off or land. help people who dared to speak about their own the hole and the snow to two commercial The extra precipitation left by airplanes personal UFO experiences -- only to be met turboprop aircraft that had taken off about an punching holes in clouds is probably not enough with ridicule and scorn. hour before. The movement of supercooled to change global climate patterns, Heymsfield Dreamer that I was, I wanted to bring water droplets over the planes’ propellers added. But “regionally, it could certainly something before the United Nations, to try to cooled them enough to make them freeze and enhance snowfall.” [] get that esteemed group of international leaders plunge to Earth as snowflakes, Heymsfield said. to finally come together on a subject that could Normally, snowflakes or raindrops need a speck UFOs at the UN -- A Close potentially advance the world in both scientific of dust or another imperfection to form around. Encounter and sociological ways. But supercooled water can freeze instantly, if it If you want to do something at the U.N., cools quickly to around minus 35 degrees Lee Speigel I learned, you can't just walk in off the street and Fahrenheit. announce that you want to tell the world how To confirm this idea, the researchers (June 25) -- Will the European Union disclose important UFOs are (or any subject, for that compared the snowflakes that fell on either side any UFO files it might have, as one lawmaker matter). You have to either be a delegate or of the hole-punch cloud to the ice crystals that called for several days ago, perhaps bringing sponsored by a country. fell directly beneath it. The snowflakes that fell new facts to a field long relegated by So I sent my UFO album to Gairy via from the hole were more plate-like and simple government officials as science fiction? the Grenada embassy in New York. He and I than those that originated in the surrounding Maybe, but this isn't the first time world met and struck a deal: I told him I was aware of clouds. The more-complicated snowflakes had leaders have had a close encounter with UFOs. his efforts lobbying the U.N. to pay attention to accumulated drops of liquid water as they fell, As reported here earlier this week, his UFO campaign, and I offered to produce a Heymsfield said. But in the middle of the hole, Italian Northern League party leader Mario presentation with a stacked lineup of UFO all the liquid had either frozen or evaporated. Borghezio has urged all 27-member EU experts bound to pique the interest of “This phenomena removes the droplets, governments to open the books and reveal any international leaders. so these crystals as they fell were not collecting (Continued on Page 18)