NUFORC Sighting 48809

Occurred: 2006-01-21 16:15 Local
Reported: 2006-01-22 20:54 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Aurora, CO, USA

Shape: Light


Apparent bright sundog, brilliant aqua green, yellow and pale orange

A brilliant apparent sundog in the southwest sky. The sun was about 5 to 10 degrees obove the horizon, as viewed from Aurora in late afternoon.

A very bright rainbow type light illuminated a short "hanging curtain" cloud to the left of the soon to be setting sun. The light was a brilliant aqua green that shifted to yellow then a pale orange as if you were looking at a short section of a rainbow.

I am sure this was a form of sundog, however I noted that the flat luminous cloud reflecting the sun, sort of like a shimmering curtain of a cloud was totally unlike the other clouds in the sky, which were mostly small round puffs covering most, but not all of the sky.

It was only after I had watched the sundog, and it was starting to weaken, that I noted the short curtain cloud causing this effect was directly under what I would call a dark, cigarette shaped cloud from which the curtain cloud descended. I would not call the dark cloud a cigar shape, but more of a thin, long cigarette. There were no similar cloud formations in the sky. But there were other apparently higher clouds farther west and thus that might account for the cigarette cloud being darker, as it was in the shadow of other clouds between it and the sun. But again, the sun dog seemed limited to just his halo or hanging curtain of mousture.

It might have been verdigri extending down from this long, thin cloud, but normally that is in very long strings whereas this was shorter and more compact. But the cloud causing the sundog was like a mist cloud, perhaps an effect of the angle of the sunlight.

I am fairly certain this was a form of sundog, with the cloud particles in just the right spot to bend and refract the sunlight in my direction. (I was in the south parking lot of Aurora Mall on Alameda Avenue.) I am not posting this as a ufo or unidentified object, but wish to post it in reference to the contrasting long thin cloud above the sundog in case anyone else had a differing view of this event that would indicate something else.



Posted 2006-02-14

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