Lenticular clouds, Patagonia

© Sasha Juliard/Shutterstoc

We’ve identified these ‘flying objects’. Lenticular clouds, Patagonia

Though they may look like retro sci-fi spaceships, these strange shapes are lenticular clouds. Their name, like the word lens, comes from the Latin word for lentil, as they often take that shape. They begin to form in the troposphere when moist, stable air meets an updraft caused by a large standing object like a building or mountain. The air rises and if its crest goes below the dew point, it condenses into these fascinating clouds. Thanks to the science of meteorology, we can explain these atmospheric phenomena.