Earth from space: Bizarre 'pet cloud' reappears above its favorite spot in New Zealand

By Harry Baker published 11 hours ago

A recent satellite image captured the reemergence of a unique, UFO-like cloud, known as the "Taieri Pet," which appears above New Zealand's South Island when conditions are just right.



The Taieri Pet is an altocumulus standing lenticular cloud (ASLC) that forms above New Zealand's Otago region when water vapor condenses out of air as it's forced over the adjacent Rock and Pillar Range. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Landsat)


A peculiar "pet cloud" took center stage in a recent satellite photo of New Zealand. The freaky formation often appears in the same spot thanks to a nearby mountain range — and is sometimes confused with a UFO.

The wispy oblong, known by locals as the "Taieri Pet," is an elongated altocumulus standing lenticular cloud (ASLC) that frequently appears between the towns Middlemarch and Hyde in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. Although they can vary slightly in size, the clouds always look very similar and appear in almost the same spot. The example in this image is around 7 miles (11.5 kilometers) long.

ASLCs form when waves of air pass over a topographic barrier, like a mountain range, forcing water vapor to condense into vertical layers, according to the National Weather Service. The Taieri Pet forms when moist air passes over the mountainous Rock and Pillar Range (located parallel to the left of the cloud in the photo) and is held in place and further shaped by perpendicular winds blowing from the north, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

"As the cloud forms on the crest of this wave, it remains almost stationary in the sky and is shaped by the strong winds blowing through it," John Law, a meteorologist with New Zealand's MetService, told Earth Observatory.

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