Planet Earth is an amazing place filled with a lot of strange and interesting natural phenomena. Some of them are easy to explain from a scientific point of view, some are a real mystery of nature. Below are the most unusual natural phenomena that not only intrigue, but also fascinate.
The natural phenomenon, which has long been called “St. Elmo’s Fire,” was a real threat to sailors. It looked like small but quite bright balls of yellow-orange color. During bad weather, storms or storms, they appeared on the sharp ends of masts or spiers of lighthouses. They frightened and delighted at the same time, seemed interesting and alluring.
It was believed that these lights promised the lost ship hope for salvation, would bring good luck on long journeys and the protection of the gods.
Elmo lights were small point charges that concentrated on the edges of sharp objects. They did not burn and were absolutely safe. It is quite difficult to see these lights nowadays, because modern high-tech ships have smoother shapes.
Stones that can crawl
Once every few years in Death Valley, a national park in California, USA, you can watch a strange natural phenomenon - crawling stones. Remarkable is the fact that the movement of the boulders themselves has not yet been captured on film. The traces left on the surface of the dry lake Reistrak Playa clearly confirm this mysterious natural phenomenon.
There are a huge number of versions and conjectures regarding its origin. According to one of the most interesting, boulders fall from nearby hills, the height of which reaches about 250 meters. The clayey soil of the lake slows down the inertial movement on a flat surface several times, but it still occurs. As a result, stone blocks leave behind smooth traces up to 3 cm deep and tens of meters long.
Green ray of the setting sun
Inexplicable natural phenomena include the stunningly beautiful spectacle of a green ray appearing at sunset. To see it, you must meet only 3 conditions: find an open horizon, a cloudless sky and clean air.
The strange optical effect lasts only a few seconds (less often, minutes), and is a greenish-emerald flash in the sky at the moment the sun disappears below the horizon.
Researcher William Cohn tried to explain the appearance of the green ray as follows. When oxygen atoms transition to a normal state from a metastable state, they emit radiation. It is expressed in a light wave, which tints the horizon green. This guess has not yet been confirmed from a scientific point of view.
Mystical mirages of the desert
Anomalous natural phenomena are not uncommon in the vast sandy areas. You can often observe the appearance of mirages in the desert. Strange and interesting, inexplicable and incomprehensible, they are illusions and images floating in the air.
There are many guesses and explanations for their occurrence:
- whim of the gods;
- tribute to the past;
- secrets of science.
According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, mirages are a reminder of the past, the appearance of objects, people, even cities that no longer exist. According to one of the legends of England, Fata Morgana was considered the ruler of mirages, who deceived sailors with ghostly visions.
From a scientific point of view, mirages are the consequences of thermal overheating of air, the creation of a so-called “air lens”. Quite interesting is the fact that the clearest mirages appear not in sandy deserts, but in icy ones. Thus, in Alaska, centuries-old cold intensifies light inhomogeneities and leads to the emergence of stunningly bright aerial illusions.
Electric lightning extravaganza Catatumbo
A real landmark of Venezuela is the Catatumbo River, or more precisely, the place where it flows into Lake Maracaibo. Here you can quite often observe a strange and fascinating natural phenomenon - a huge concentration of electrical charges in the atmosphere. Catatumbo lightning appears up to 150 times a year and continues to flash for up to 10 hours in a row. This phenomenon is not accompanied by any sound effects.
All this allowed the Venezuelan municipality of Catatumbo to proclaim its territory as the Capital of Lightning. This rather interesting phenomenon has been known since the times of ancient sailors: lightning discharges, which were visible 400 km away, served as a kind of beacon for them and were used for navigation.
Today, the phenomenon of multiplicity of Catatumbo lightning is explained quite simply. Several unique natural factors came together:
- The Andes block the wind's access to the lake;
- evaporated water forms massive clouds;
- Electrical discharges appear in the clouds.
As a result of all this, unusually beautiful and high lightning occurs, and a huge amount of ozone is released into the atmosphere.
Cellular clouds are harbingers of a storm
Another fascinating natural phenomenon is cellular clouds, also called biconvex clouds. They were discovered quite recently, no more than 40 years ago. Classified as cumulonimbus clouds. Their structure is quite interesting, reminiscent of a kind of convex honeycomb. The elements hanging down are painted dark gray. If the sun is low above the horizon, they can acquire pinkish, golden, or bluish hues.
They are found mainly in the United States; their appearance portends the imminent approach of a storm or hurricane. It is especially recommended that airplanes and helicopters avoid strange clouds, since ball lightning often occurs in cellular clouds and frequent and sudden changes in wind occur. Lenticular clouds are also unique in that they form on downward rather than upward air currents.
The miraculous aurora
One of the strangest and most mysterious wonders of nature is the northern lights. A stunning sight can be seen in clear, windless weather near the Earth's magnetic poles. The duration of the northern lights varies from 1-2 hours to several days and depends on solar activity.
This phenomenon itself represents the glow of the upper atmospheric layer of our planet, which is formed as a result of its interaction with the flow of hydrogen-helium plasma of the Sun. When particles collide with each other, molecules and gases in the atmosphere are activated. Their radiation appears before us in the form of a magnificent and interesting phenomenon - the northern lights. Its color palette is highlighted in purple when nitrogen is activated, scarlet and emerald when oxygen is excited.
The latest discovery of scientists who conducted research on this natural phenomenon was confirmation of the sound effect of the aurora. A research team from Aalto University, Helsinki, made an audio recording of the light flashes. Numerous legends about the “voices of the luminous sky” were confirmed.
As children, we are all amazed by the blue sky, white clouds and bright stars. With age, this goes away for many, and we stop noticing nature. Look through this list of unusual natural phenomena; it will probably make you once again surprised by the complex organization of our world, and natural phenomena in particular.
20. Lunar rainbow.
A lunar rainbow (also known as a night rainbow) is a rainbow created by the moon. A lunar rainbow is comparatively paler than a normal rainbow. A lunar rainbow is best seen when the moon is full, or at a phase of the moon close to full, since at this time the moon is at its brightest. For moonbows to appear, other than those caused by a waterfall, the moon must be low in the sky (less than 42 degrees and preferably lower) and the sky must be dark. And of course it must rain opposite the moon. A lunar rainbow is a much rarer phenomenon than a rainbow that is visible in daylight. The moonbow phenomenon is observed in only a few places in the world. Waterfalls in Cumberland Falls, near Williamsburg, Kentucky, USA; Waimea, Hawaii; Trans-Ili Alatau in the foothills of Almaty; Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe are widely known as the site of frequent sightings of lunar rainbows. Yosemite National Park in the United States is home to a large number of waterfalls. As a result, lunar rainbows are also observed in the park, especially when the water level rises from melting snow in the spring. Lunar rainbows are also observed on the Yamal Peninsula in conditions of heavy fog. Probably, with sufficiently heavy fog and fairly clear weather, a lunar rainbow can be observed at any latitude.
19. Mirages
Despite their prevalence, mirages always evoke an almost mystical sense of wonder. An optical phenomenon in the atmosphere: the reflection of light by a boundary between layers of air that are sharply different in density. For an observer, such a reflection means that together with a distant object (or part of the sky), its virtual image is visible, shifted relative to the object. Mirages are divided into lower ones, visible under the object, upper ones, above the object, and side ones.
18. Halo
Usually, halos occur when there is high humidity or severe frost - previously, a halo was considered a phenomenon from above, and people expected something unusual. This is an optical phenomenon, a luminous ring around an object - a light source. A halo usually appears around the Sun or Moon, sometimes around other powerful light sources. There are many types of halos, but they are caused primarily by ice crystals in cirrus clouds at altitudes of 5-10 km in the upper troposphere. Sometimes in frosty weather, a halo is formed by crystals very close to the earth's surface. In this case, the crystals resemble shining gemstones.
17. Belt of Venus
An interesting optical phenomenon that occurs when the atmosphere is dusty is an unusual “belt” between the sky and the horizon. It appears as a stripe of pink to orange color between the dark night sky below and the blue sky above, appearing before sunrise or after sunset parallel to the altitude of 10°-20° to the horizon in a place opposite the Sun. In the belt of Venus, the atmosphere scatters light from the setting (or rising) Sun, which appears redder, hence the color pink rather than blue.
16. Pearl clouds
Unusually high clouds (about 10-12 km), becoming visible at sunset.
15. Northern Lights
The Northern Lights, also known as Aurora Borealis, are a truly stunning sight. This natural phenomenon can most often be observed in late autumn, winter or early spring.
14. Colored Moon
When the atmosphere is dusty, high humidity, or for other reasons, the Moon sometimes appears colored. The red Moon is especially unusual.
13. Lenticular clouds
An extremely rare phenomenon, appearing mainly before a hurricane. Opened just 30 years ago. Also called Mammatus clouds. clouds, round and shaped like a biconvex lens - in the past they were sometimes confused with UFOs.
12. St. Elmo's Fire.
A fairly common phenomenon caused by increased electric field strength before a thunderstorm, during a thunderstorm and immediately after. A discharge in the form of luminous beams or brushes (or a corona discharge) that occurs at the sharp ends of tall objects (towers, masts, lonely trees, sharp peaks of rocks, etc.) The first witnesses of this phenomenon were sailors who observed the lights of St. Elmo on the masts and other vertical pointed objects.
11. Fire whirlwinds
A fire whirlwind is also known as a fire devil or fire tornado. This is a rare phenomenon in which the fire, under certain conditions, depending on temperature and air flows, acquires vertical vorticity. Fire whirls often appear when bushes are burning. Vertically rotating pillars can reach from 10 to 65 meters in height, but only for the last few minutes of their existence. And in certain winds they can be even higher.
10. Mushroom clouds.
Mushroom clouds are clouds of smoke in the shape of a mushroom, formed as a result of the combination of tiny particles of water and earth, or as a result of a powerful explosion.
9. Light pillars.
One of the most common types of halo, a visual phenomenon, an optical effect that represents a vertical strip of light extending from the sun during sunset or sunrise.
8. Diamond dust.
Frozen water droplets scattering the light of the Sun.
7. Fish, frog and other rains.
One of the hypotheses explaining the appearance of such rains is a tornado that sucks out nearby bodies of water and carries their contents over long distances.
6. Virga.
Rain that evaporates before reaching the ground. Observed as a noticeable deposition band emerging from the cloud. In North America, it is usually seen in the southern United States and the Canadian prairies.
5. Bora.
Hurricane winds have many names. Strong (up to 40-60 m/s) cold wind in some coastal areas where low mountain ranges border the warm sea (for example, on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, on the Black Sea coast in the Novorossiysk region). Directed down slopes, usually observed in winter.
4. Fire rainbow.
Occurs when sunlight passes through high clouds. Unlike an ordinary rainbow, which can be observed almost anywhere on the globe, a “fire rainbow” is visible only at certain latitudes. In Russia, the visibility zone runs through the extreme south.
3. Green beam.
An extremely rare optical phenomenon, a flash of green light as the sun's disk disappears below the (usually sea) horizon or appears above the horizon.
2. Ball lightning.
A rare natural phenomenon, a unified physical theory of the occurrence and course of which has not been presented to date. There are about 200 theories explaining the phenomenon, but none of them have received absolute recognition in the academic environment. It is widely believed that ball lightning is a phenomenon of electrical origin, of natural nature, that is, it is a special type of lightning that exists for a long time in the form of a ball, capable of moving along an unpredictable, sometimes very surprising trajectory for eyewitnesses.
In South America, in the Amazon River basin, the largest water lily in the world lives - the giant Victoria Amazonis. The diameter of its leaves reaches two...
- gas crater in Turkmenistan. Locals and travelers call it the “Door to the Underworld”, or the “Gates of Hell”. It was lit by scientists in 1971 and has never stopped burning since then.
It is located 90 km from the village of Erbent. The diameter of the crater is approximately 60 meters, the depth is about 20 meters.
2. Black Sun of Denmark— more than a million European starlings gather in huge flocks, creating unusual patterns in the air and practically blocking out the sun. This amazing phenomenon can be observed in Denmark in early spring - everywhere in the marshy, western part of the country. However, the largest flocks of starlings gather in the south of Jutland. An aerial bird ballet can be seen at sunset.
3. In Morocco you can see trees “decorated” with live goats, like Christmas decorations. The dry and hot climate, as well as the sparse vegetation of these places, force goats, showing miracles of acrobatics, skillfully balancing on branches and collecting tree fruits.
4. Lifeless landscapes of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania resemble surreal alien landscapes. A lake covered with a crust of salt may change color throughout the year. As a result of the vital activity of microorganisms - halophilic cyanobacteria living in Natrona - the water acquires rich reddish and pinkish shades several times a year. As the temperature rises, the bacteria release a red pigment, coloring the lake.
5. Tidal waves (or "Boron") in the Amazon in Brazil and the Severn in England, it is a phenomenon in which the leading edge of the tide forms a wave that travels up the river against the current. Surfers often use a boron to ride their board.
6. Lenticular (lenticular) clouds- a unique natural phenomenon. These clouds usually form around hills and mountains. They look very peculiar and look like giant flying saucers or a stack of pancakes. Many famous mountains around the world have often been photographed capped by these clouds, including Mount Shasta and Mount Fuji.
Lenticular clouds appear completely motionless, as if frozen in time. Actually this is not true. The clouds appear motionless as a stream of moist air constantly replenishes the cloud on the windward side, while the moisture evaporates and disappears on the leeward side, leaving clouds with a characteristic lenticular shape.
7. Frosty flowers- These are ice crystals that form on young ice in cold waters. As a rule, they form at low temperatures and in the almost complete absence of wind.
8. Richat (Guel Er Richat, also known as the Eye of the Sahara)- a geological formation located in the Mauritanian part of the Sahara Desert. The diameter of the structure is 50 km.
There are many different opinions about the origin of this amazing natural phenomenon. According to one version, the “eye” was formed as a result of a meteorite fall. Some scientists believe that it was created as a result of underground nuclear explosions. However, it is worth noting that for such a crater to form, the explosion must have a gigaton power. Currently, no country in the world possesses weapons of such incredible destructive power.
9. Catatumbo Lightning- a natural phenomenon that occurs above the confluence of the Catatumbo River into Lake Maracaibo (this is the largest salt lake in Venezuela). The phenomenon is expressed in the appearance of a glow at an altitude of about five kilometers without accompanying acoustic effects. Lightning appears at night (140-160 times a year), discharges last about 10 hours. Lightning flashes up to 280 times per hour. This adds up to about 1.2 million discharges per year.
10. Mysterious circles under water, discovered in 1995 near the Japanese island of Amamioshima in the East China Sea, look like something alien. The creator of these patterns is the puffer fish, which creates them to attract a female.
11. Very rarely in the sky you can observe a striking cloud, the unofficial name of which sounds like undulatus asperatus (from Latin - “wavy-lumpy”; also asperatus, asperatus). In 2009, it was proposed to classify them as a new type of cloud, but this was impossible to do, because even today they have not yet been sufficiently studied. Despite their menacing appearance, they are by no means harbingers of a storm.
12. Flowering of the Chilean Atacama Desert. Typically, this desert experiences virtually no rainfall all year. However, this year the region experienced historically record rainfall. The rainfall was so intense that catastrophic flooding began. The rains brought to life flower seeds that had been dormant for many years. Such flowerings are very rare and occur approximately once every 5–10 years.
13. Round-horizontal arc or near-horizontal arc is an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight passes through ice crystals in upper cirrus clouds. This is a fairly rare phenomenon, but it mostly happens on a summer day when the Sun is high in the sky. This creates a rainbow effect directly in the clouds filled with ice crystals.
14. Crawling or moving stones- a geological phenomenon discovered on the dried-up lake Racetrack Playa in Death Valley in the USA. The stones move without any human or animal participation, however, no one has ever seen or recorded the movement itself.
15. Eternal Flame Falls in the heart of Chestnut Ridge Park in New York. You can always see a burning fire inside the waterfall. The phenomenon of this phenomenon is explained by the fact that there is a natural gas leak under the waterfall, and a fire is always burning at this point. The fire is not actually “eternal”, that is, it goes out periodically. Often it is re-lit by some tourist who discovers that the flame has gone out.
16. Magic circles in the Namibian desert are one of nature's greatest mysteries. In the north, the circles reach a diameter of 50 meters, in the south - up to three. At first they talked about UFOs, then they blamed it all on termites, which supposedly eat the roots of plants underground. However, the evidence was never presented.
Some scientists argue that the circles arise due to the self-organization of grass. This hypothesis was proven based on a similar phenomenon discovered in Western Australia.
17. Giant's Causeway (Giant's Causeway) in Northern Ireland- a natural monument of approximately 40,000 interconnected basalt (less often andesite) columns formed as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption.
18. Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize is a round karst sinkhole with a diameter of 305 meters, going to a depth of 120 meters.
The Blue Hole became famous thanks to the French explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who included it in the list of the 10 best places in the world for diving.
It's hard to believe, but there are natural phenomena that scientists still cannot explain. Such as balls of electricity appearing in the sky, or the random movement of rocks without the help of man or animal. Will we ever be able to find out the answers to these mysterious questions? May be! But now, these 25 unusual natural phenomena remain a mystery to science.
solar corona
Millions of kilometers in space belong to the corona, which acts as an aura of plasma and surrounds the Sun. This is something that scientists cannot explain. And why the solar corona has a higher temperature than the visible surface of the Sun. While the average surface temperature of the Sun is about 5800 Kelvin, the corona reaches a burning temperature of one to three million Kelvin.
Animal migration
Animal migration occurs in virtually all large groups of animals, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and insects. Scientists are puzzled by the fact how these animals dare to make such amazing journeys without going astray? There have been many theories about this natural phenomenon, but the true cause remains unknown.
Sound anomalies or abnormal sound phenomena in nature
There are several locations known for humming, a phenomenon described as a persistent and invasive low-frequency hum, rumbling, noise, or buzzing sound from an unknown source. The one in Taos, New Mexico is probably the most famous. Even more mysterious is the fact that only 2% of Taos residents can hear it. Regardless of the origin of the strange sound, it is extremely disturbing to those who can hear it.
Jellyfish have disappeared from Jellyfish Lake
Located on the island of Eil Malk in Palau, Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake that connects to the ocean through a network of cracks and tunnels. Every day millions of jellyfish migrate through the lake, and between 1998 and 2000, all golden jellyfish disappeared from the lake. There are many theories regarding this phenomenon, but scientists are still not sure of the exact cause.
Ice circles
Also known as ice discs, ice rims are a very rare natural phenomenon that occurs in slow-moving waters at freezing temperatures. Scientists don't know exactly how ice circles form, but they are thought to form in eddy currents where sheets of thin ice rotate and gradually freeze together. The diameter of the circles can vary greatly from a few centimeters to 15 meters or more.
Big Foot
For decades, people have been observing the large, human-shaped, hairy creature known as the Yeti or Bigfoot. While the vast majority of scientists are skeptical of its existence, there are a few experts who believe that Bigfoot does exist. Supporters speculate that this could be a relict population of Gigantopithecus, a giant ape that lived 9 million years ago.
Hurricane on Saturn
In 2013, a huge hurricane was spotted on Saturn by NASA spacecraft orbiting the planet. The eye of the storm was about 2,000 kilometers in diameter and crossed the clouds at a speed of 530 km per hour. On Earth, hurricanes are fueled by warm oceans, but on Saturn there are no oceans that could create such a giant storm.
Monarch butterfly migration
We've already talked about the miraculous migrations of animals, but there is one animal whose annual migration is especially impressive. The monarch butterfly only lives for half a year, which means that the butterflies that return are the children of those who made the first migration. Having never migrated, how can they know where to go? Researchers have proposed many theories, and a team of researchers has identified the butterfly's antenna as a vital body part for successful migration. However, the accuracy of this theory remains to be determined.
Rain of animals
Several strange cases of animals falling from the sky have been recorded in history. For example, in the summer of 2000 in Ethiopia, it rained millions of fish, some of them dead and others still struggling to move. Most of these "animal" rains come from tornadoes or other types of violent storms that can lift and carry objects and water, but one striking fact is that the rains usually come from one type of animal. It could be a rain of only herring or a special type of frog.
Naga fireballs
Like ball lightning, Naga fireballs are an unusual natural phenomenon. They have been unconfirmedly seen on the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos, where glowing reddish orbs are supposedly rising from the water. There have been several attempts to scientifically explain Naga fireballs, but so far, there is no definitive explanation for this phenomenon.
Silence zone
Mapimi "Zone of Silence" refers to a desert patch in Durango, Mexico, and is an extremely quiet place where strange phenomena occur. In 1970, a test rocket launched from a US military base near Green River, Utah lost control and fell in this area. Parts of the booster used for the Apollo project also disintegrated and landed in the same area, as well as the world's largest carbonaceous chondrites. Or maybe this is a coincidence?
Flashes of light during an earthquake
For centuries, people have observed strange, mostly white or bluish flashes that precede major earthquakes. The lights typically lasted only a few seconds. The first photographs of this phenomenon were recorded after the 1960s. Since then, scientists have begun to take this phenomenon seriously and have created many theories about the origin of light flashes, involving piezoelectricity, frictional heating and electrokinetics.
Volcanic light
Scientists have discovered that similar volcanic light is observed before an earthquake and occurs in areas where a large volcanic eruption is about to occur. Recent research suggests that the light may be caused by elements that awaken the rocks' natural electrical charge, causing them to sparkle and glow.
Moon illusion
We have all noticed that when the Moon is on the horizon, it appears much larger than when it is high in the sky. But try a small experiment (for example, with a coin) at arm's length with one eye closed, place it next to a high moon, and then with a large Moon on the horizon, and you will see that the size of the moon relative to the coin will be the same in both cases .
Synchronized flashing of fireflies
Living in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, synchronous fireflies are the only fireflies in America that can synchronize their blinking. Fireflies glow synchronously for several weeks each year, but the reason for this behavior remains unknown.
Cat purring
Did you know that a cat's purr is one of the most mysterious sounds in the animal kingdom? Scientists study not only the origin of sound, but also its causes. Cats often purr when being petted or resting, but they also purr while eating and sometimes even while giving birth. Thus, the main reason why cats purr remains unknown.
Singing humpback whales
Male humpback whales can produce long and very complex "sounds" that were once thought to be necessary to attract females, but research has shown that the sound often attracts other males. In addition, individuals can recognize each other's songs and spread them to other populations. So the singing of humpback whales remains a mystery.
Emergence of the Universe
In the modern world, the Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model of the birth of the Universe. She states that about 14 billion years ago, all of space was contained in a single point from which the universe emerged. However, the theory does not provide any explanation for the initial conditions of the universe - it only describes and explains the overall evolution of the universe that began from that point on. But what existed before this? We do not know.
Bermuda Triangle
If there is a place known for the occurrence of mysterious phenomena and strange events that scientists cannot figure out, it is the Bermuda Triangle. In this region of the western North Atlantic, a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Scientists tend to attribute disappearances to several coincidences, such as terrible weather, ocean currents, human error, and even methane bubbles.
Loch Ness monster
The Loch Ness Monster is a mystery somewhat similar to Bigfoot. There have been many sightings of the creature, but most of them have been found to be false. However, there is some speculation that the Scottish loch may be home to a relict plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile believed to have died around 66 million years ago. Plesiosaurs were once abundant in what is now Britain, but the likelihood of some surviving in secret is close to zero.
Witch circles
Found in the arid grasslands of western South Africa, witch circles are circular patches of barren land. Usually found with monospecific herbaceous vegetation, the circles vary in diameter from 2 to 15 m. The origin and history of fairy circles has long been a puzzle and even today, scientists do not know exactly how they appeared. One favorite assumption is that termites are responsible for the circles, but the area of the phenomenon is much wider than that of termites.
Moving stones
Also known as sliding or crawling rocks, it refers to a fascinating geological phenomenon in which rocks move and create long paths along a smooth valley without human or animal intervention. There have even been cases where stones have flipped over, turning sides and changing direction. The origin of this phenomenon is uncertain, but scientists speculate that the movement may be caused by strong winds pushing the stone across a thin layer of clay.
Whales are broke
Every year, up to 2,000 whales wash up on beaches, and in most cases die. It is also known that they have been using this strange method of "suicide" for at least thousands of years. Numerous theories have been proposed as to why they do this, but none have been convincing enough to be true.
Ball lightning
Ball lightning is probably the best known unexplained electrical phenomenon. The term refers to glowing, spherical objects that range in diameter from a pea to several meters. Ball lightning is commonly associated with thunderstorms, but lasts significantly longer than regular lightning. The phenomenon has been the subject of research since English physician and explorer William Snow Harris introduced the concept into the scientific field in 1834, but even now there is no generally accepted explanation for ball lightning.
Lights of Hessdalen Valley
Since the 1940s or even earlier, a strange light has been recorded in the Hessdalen Valley, Norway. This natural phenomenon is white or yellow in color and has an unknown origin. Between 1981 and 1984, the lights were observed up to 20 times a week, but since then, activity has decreased and the lights are now observed about 10-20 times a year. Despite ongoing research and numerous working hypotheses, there is no convincing explanation for the origin of these lights.
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The rainbow can be fiery, the sun can be false, the rain can be fishy, the clouds can be pearlescent, and the desert can be blooming. Ordinary people see these amazing natural phenomena in the Discovery Channel or in feature films. Only a few lucky people get to see them with their own eyes.
The fire rainbow is one of the TOP 15 amazing natural phenomena on earth. It appears when the sun is at a high altitude and its rays illuminate ice crystals. This happens in the summer - where there are cirrus clouds and latitudes located near the equator. Residents of Los Angeles are luckier - they can see a fiery rainbow for almost six months.
Amazing physical phenomena of nature also occur in areas far from the equator. Pearlescent clouds appear in polar latitudes in winter, when temperatures drop to abnormal levels. It is difficult to see them because they are located at an altitude of 15-30 km from the ground. What is unusual is that they shimmer with all colors after sunset and decorate the evening sky.
The blooming Atacama Desert in Chile is another natural phenomenon that happens once every 7-10 years. The Atacama blossomed for the first time after a heavy rainfall that turned into a flood. Moisture turned out to be life-giving for plant seeds.
It rains:
- shower;
- blind;
- drizzling;
- summer;
- mushroom;
- thunderstorm;
- fishy
Fish rain is a phenomenon for meteorologists, although cases of its occurrence are periodically recorded in different countries. In Honduras it falls every May-July. The small town of Yoro even hosts an annual themed festival.
Stormy skies, gusty winds, pouring rain - the bad weather rages for several hours. When the rain subsides, thousands of live fish remain on the ground. Scientists explain this by the force of the wind, which lifts fish from the depths of the sea and moves them several kilometers.
Parhelium is the scientific name for this optical phenomenon. It is formed in the air at sunrise or sunset and is the reflection of multiple solar rays in ice crystals. The human eye perceives it as bright spots located on both sides of the sun and moving along the horizon synchronously.
Scientists have been unable to explain the physics of this natural miracle for several decades. Weighty stones move independently along the bottom of the lake in Death Valley.
The researchers were not able to see the movement process, but the fact is a fact. The stones move several meters along a complex trajectory, leaving deep marks, turning over on their sides and tumbling.
The Maldives is deservedly called a paradise resort. Here even the beaches glow at night. The secret of the glow is the phytoplankton that washes up on the shore and shimmers blue in the waves. Beaches in the Maldives often glow; to be sure to see them, you need to choose moonless nights. The picture is unforgettable.
The northern lights are also amazing in nature, painting the dark sky yellow, red, blue and other colors in 2-3 seconds. During the aurora, the street is as bright as day.
The best place to see the Northern Lights is in Lapland, where wildlife thrives and the air is clear and unpolluted by city buildings or distorted by street lighting. When the solar wind (charged particles) is attracted to the Earth's magnetic pole, a multi-colored glow appears.
Fragile butterflies with black and orange plumage live in North America. Every year, monarchs migrate to California and Mexico to escape the cold. While walking through Californian parks, you can observe a unique picture - bushes and trees covered with cute birds. Mexicans associate monarchs with the souls of the deceased - this is due to the fact that butterflies fly to the country on All Souls' Day.
The most amazing phenomena for some countries are considered ordinary in other countries. One of them is sandstorms that occur in the deserts of Africa and Asia and other areas suffering from moisture deficiency. Gusts of wind pick up sand, lift it to a height and carry it tens of kilometers away. There is something mystical about this, especially if you observe sandstorms in the area of the Egyptian pyramids.
A blue moon is rare; Canadians experience it when the air is excessively humid or smoky. The last time the unusually colored moon appeared in the sky was during the forest fires and remained there for about a week. At times its color changed to red or blue.
Every second day there is a thunderstorm with discharges lasting up to 10 hours. Over a year there are more than a million lightning strikes, they can be seen from 400-500 km away. This natural phenomenon can be observed in South America - in the place where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. The area in the area is swampy, with a high methane content. Scientists believe that gas accumulating in the atmosphere fuels lightning.
The outline is the shadow of a huge bear, although bears are not found in the mountains of the American state of North Carolina. This unique phenomenon can be observed twice a year – in October-November and February-March. It is not surprising that tourists from different countries come to America to see the unusual shadow. She only appears for 30 minutes.
Why the eye? From a bird's eye view, this geological formation looks like a huge eye. Its dimensions are truly enormous - more than 50 km in diameter. Astronauts at one time navigated by it because the eye of Africa stood out against the monochromatic sandy background of the Sahara.
In Indonesia, at an altitude of 2.6 km, there is a volcano called Kawah Ijen. It is unique with blue lava - the result of burning sulfur.
The blue flame is visible from afar - it rises up to 5 meters. But to see this miracle of nature, tourists will have to make a difficult trek along volcanic rocks and then descend to the center of the crater. The journey to the blue volcano will take about 3 hours.
