On Monday at approximately 1 p.m., something strange happened in the small, seaside town of Wonthaggi. A resident by the name of Carol spotted an unidentified rainbow object in the sky.
Was it a doorway into another realm? Had the aliens finally arrived? Wonthaggi, 132 kilometres out of Melbourne, knew it must have a purpose -- was this it?
Carol did what many residents would have done: she called radio station 3AW in a cry for help. By this stage, the town was in a panic, posting photos of various sightings on Twitter, begging for answers. It felt like it may be the final communication before the world reached its colourful end.
Some weird rainbow/cloud action going on in Wonthaggi right now. (Pic via listener Carol) pic.twitter.com/rBHBrbiRoF— 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) November 3, 2014
.@TomElliott3AW: "This weird cloud formation reminds me of the spaceships in Independence Day." #weirdrainbow pic.twitter.com/IQUuSV9FQL— 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) November 3, 2014
Aliens.....obviouslyUne photo publiée par Craig (@seventyfour) le Nov. 11, 2014 at 6:06 PST
Rapture's here, folks. RT @3AW693 Some weird rainbow/cloud action going on in Wonthaggi right now. pic.twitter.com/U6zOift7Rm— M McKenzie-Murray (@feed_the_chooks) November 3, 2014
Photo: Looks like the end of the world is currently happening in Wonthaggi, Australia… http://t.co/r93EHwhWyM— Maximo (@maximosis) November 3, 2014
@benharrisben Tearaway! "@3AW693: Wonthaggi's #weirdrainbow from a different angle, thanks to listener Jarrod. pic.twitter.com/nLrPXiOaGz"— Michael Dart (@mjdart) November 3, 2014
What's going on over Wonthaggi? pic.twitter.com/UZQXkvdgb2— Cameron Thornton (@cammo_t) November 3, 2014
@3AW693 @ABCNews24 @MikeLarkan any idea what was going on in the sky over wonthaggi this afternoon? pic.twitter.com/jOFb7gpgan— Tim Smith (@TimSmithYV) November 3, 2014
Fear not, humankind. Michael Efron from the Bureau of Meterology saved the day.
"It looks like a fallstreak cloud, also known as a punch hole cloud," he told Fairfax Media.
"They form when the water temperature in the cloud is below freezing, but the water has not yet frozen due to a lack of ice nucleation particles. In this case, when the water does start to freeze, it falls down to the surface ... so you're left with this cloud surrounding it, this clear area."
As you were, everyone.