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<o:Author>KEVIN FREELS</o:Author>
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<o:LastAuthor>Kevin Freels</o:LastAuthor>
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<o:Created>2003-05-15T20:25:00Z</o:Created>
<o:LastSaved>2004-09-27T15:23:00Z</o:LastSaved>
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<P class=MsoNormal>I saw something extremely odd, but exciting today that I
can't explain. It was a pair of cloud rings in the sky.<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
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<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I was traveling north on the highway from Evansville,
Indiana to Princeton, Indiana going from my old house to the one I just
purchased. The distance between city limits is approximately 22 miles. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>As a student pilot and a builder of amateur rockets, I
spend a great deal of time observing the sky and calculating distance. I am not
great at it, but better than the average Joe who only looks up AFTER a
helicopter has flown over his head. </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When I began heading north, the rings were north east of me
just above the horizon. I eastimated the distance north to be just about 20
miles with the clouds at an altitude of about 10,000-15,000 feet AGL. The
general texture was like that of alto-cumulus.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>There were two distinct rings almost right on top of each
other. I estimate the rings were about 3/4 mile in diameter and each was about
300-500 ft thick. The rings were almost perfectly round, not spherical. They
were consistent in thickness all the way around. Both rings had a small break on
the side facing me. I really wish I had had my camera! My camera phone was
entirely inadequate for the task due to it's short focal length.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I kept watching it on the way home. I expected it to be some
kind of optical illusion, but by the time I arrived home, I was in a position
just to the west of it. The rings had drifted a bit oblong, but they were still
intact. The side with the small break in it was no longer visable because it was
no longer facing me, but my initial estimates on size and position still seemed
accurate. The rings, two of them stacked, were far too thick and low for
contrails, so I have to rule that out. SO what caused it? Any ideas?</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>This was a really amazing sight! I came home and G**gled a
few things and didn;t come up with much. Here are some links to give you an idea
of what it looked like. The first one gives you an idea of the general
appearance, but without the tail and much more "puffy". They were also
closer to the ground and not so "whispy". The caption says "stratospheric" but
it is possibly a contrail distorted by high level winds. The one I saw today was
not, and as I said, it kept it's shape for at least the 25 minutes that I was
driving on the highway.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://wmb1.com/images/scienc2-3_1.jpg">http://wmb1.com/images/scienc2-3_1.jpg</A></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://www.komotv.com/weather/viewer_pics/images/5753-cloud1.jpg">http://www.komotv.com/weather/viewer_pics/images/5753-cloud1.jpg</A> Here
is a single ring. The rings I saw today seemed to have a much larger diameter
and were more "firm" I could not see through t hem at all and the edges were
more defined.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://www.ventephoto.com/imageb.htm">http://www.ventephoto.com/imageb.htm</A> I
can almost see how this happened. There are no mountains in Evansville, Indiana.
We're lucky to see a decent hill. This is nothing at all like what I saw
today.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://aguila1.vtrbandaancha.net/imagenes/life.jpg">http://aguila1.vtrbandaancha.net/imagenes/life.jpg</A> This
is pretty neat, but again, not as perfect. And there is only one. At the time I
thought it was neat, but entirely explainable.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://mikuna.image.pbase.com/u45/w_d_p/small/29130260.skyrings.jpg">http://mikuna.image.pbase.com/u45/w_d_p/small/29130260.skyrings.jpg</A> Here's
an optical illusion caused by backlighting of the clouds. For 16 years I was a
professional photographer. (Moved on to new interests) I know the difference.
The sun was in the southwest whiile the cloud was in the northeast.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I found some other things but there were about UFOs and such.
Is anyone here familiar with this phenomenon? My zip code is 47711 if you want
to wunderground the conditions for today. I'd like to have some idea of how this
occurred!</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Kevin Freels</P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
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