Footage of a mysterious ring-shaped formation in the sky has caused viewers to speculate about what could have caused it.
The video was taken on Thursday (September 27) in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Canada, and showed what appeared to be a huge smoke ring in the sky.
The circular shape stood out against the clouds as it was dark grey and held a very distinct shape. Some have likened it to a UFO.
Take a look at the strange scene here:
The footage was shared online, where the person behind the camera wrote:
We spotted a strange smoke ring in the sky and stopped to film it.
Maybe we should take some of the information we’ve learned from movies about alien life to help us try to come up with an explanation for the unusual sight.
The ring reminds me of one of the symbols from the film Arrival, where aliens came to Earth and try to communicate.
It could be our job to try and figure out the meaning of the smokey circle! Calling all linguists, can you decipher the message in the mysterious Canadian ring?
Alternatively, if you’re more inclined to base what we know about alternative life forms from movies like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s Paul, then the object could be something like a giant cigarette smoke ring from some aliens who were having a competition to try and blow the biggest one?
Although I think these theories are interesting, it’s more likely there’s a perfectly good explanation for the ring, as some viewers of the video pointed out.
It turns out the ring would most probably have been caused by a transformer exploding.
One person commented on the video, explaining:
A transformer blew and that’s the ring it causes. Plenty of videos on youtube on this.. it’s not strange.
While another agreed, adding:
This was likely due to a transformer explosion.
Take a look at a similar cloud caused by a transformer explosion near Wicker Park, Chicago here:
The person who shared the video of the floating ring in Canada added the possible explanation into their caption, though they didn’t seem entirely convinced.
They wrote:
According to rumours, it came from an electric transformer explosion.
I think they’d rather get on board with my alien Arrival theory.
A different explanation for the ‘UFO’ could be taken from Nick Pope, a former UFO investigator who weighed in when a black smoke ring appeared in Yorkshire.
Nick explained:
Despite exotic theories about UFOs, aliens, or portals to other dimensions, I believe there’s a decidedly down-to-earth explanation here.
A so-called smoke vortex can arise when you have a blast through a circular structure like a smokestack. So these weird effects can be caused by accident – or indeed by design.
It seems reasonable to assume the ring-shaped cloud in Canada was created by a smoke stack or a transformer explosion, but it’s more fun to pretend it was alien-related.
Welcome to our planet, mysterious beings!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.