Cloud that looks like a flying saucer appears in Japan. It’s just a lenticular cloud, dangerous for planes.

After the recent stunning image of U.S. C-130 Hercules cargo planes flying near the Mout Fuji, here’s another interesting thing spotted near the highest mountain in Japan.

Although it may seem like some sort of cloacking device used to hide an alien spacecraft, the hat-shaped cloud, called “tsurushi-gumo” (Japanese for “hanging cloud”) is just a rare kind of cloud that appeared on Jun. 20 around the Fuji after a strong typhoon hit Japan.

The weird looking cloud is just a lenticular cloud, that disappered after about 30 minutes.

Lenticular clouds (especially those smaller than the one filmed near Mount Fuji) are very well known to pilots that tend to avoid them because of the turbulence of the rotor systems that accompany them.

In 1966, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 on a round-the-world flight, crashed near Mount Fuji after it suddenly encountered abnormally severe turbulence which imposed a gust load well above the design limit.

About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.