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How Airplanes Create Stunning Holes in the Sky
https://scitechdaily.com/how-airplanes-create-stunning-holes-in-the-sky/
Detail view of cavum over Wichita, Kansas, captured on December 2, 2024, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9.
Delicate and mesmerizing, hole-punch clouds — scientifically known as cavum — are peculiar formations that occur when airplanes cut through certain types of midlevel clouds.
These mysterious voids, with their feathery, falling wisps, are caused by supercooled droplets freezing into ice crystals, a chain reaction that creates the stunning spectacle.
Mysterious Hole-Punch Clouds
About 8 percent of Earth’s skies are covered by mixed-phase midlevel stratiform clouds like altocumulus and altostratus, which typically appear as horizontal, layered formations.
Occasionally, particularly near airports during winter, these clouds develop an unusual feature where part of the bottom seems to “fall out.” This phenomenon creates a distinctive formation known as cavum, also called hole-punch clouds or fallstreak holes. On December 2, 2024, the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured an image of two cavum formations in the cloud layer over Wichita, Kansas.
These mysterious voids, with their feathery, falling wisps, are caused by supercooled droplets freezing into ice crystals, a chain reaction that creates the stunning spectacle.
Mysterious Hole-Punch Clouds
About 8 percent of Earth’s skies are covered by mixed-phase midlevel stratiform clouds like altocumulus and altostratus, which typically appear as horizontal, layered formations.
Occasionally, particularly near airports during winter, these clouds develop an unusual feature where part of the bottom seems to “fall out.” This phenomenon creates a distinctive formation known as cavum, also called hole-punch clouds or fallstreak holes. On December 2, 2024, the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured an image of two cavum formations in the cloud layer over Wichita, Kansas.
From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallstreak_hole
A fallstreak hole (also known as a cavum,[1] hole punch cloud, punch hole cloud, skypunch, cloud canal or cloud hole) is a large gap, usually circular or elliptical, that can appear in cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds. The holes are caused by supercooled water in the clouds suddenly evaporating or freezing, and may be triggered by passing aircraft. Such clouds are not unique to any one geographic area and have been photographed from many places.
Because of their rarity and unusual appearance, fallstreak holes have been mistaken for or attributed to unidentified flying objects.[2]
Because of their rarity and unusual appearance, fallstreak holes have been mistaken for or attributed to unidentified flying objects.[2]