Weather phenomenon: Black Rainbows

I was reading a couple other threads and it jogged my memory about a question I had wanted to ask ATS.

Has anyone ever seen a black rainbow? I have seen two in the past... 7 or 8 years. One of the times it was overcast, but if I remember correctly the 2nd time it was clear outside. Both were also during the day, not in the morning or night.
The two I have seen are dark gray/black "rainbows" for lack of a better word. They curve like one and are thin like a normal rainbow, they just aren't colorful. I could see them with the visible eye, but they were more defined and easier to see with sunglasses on.

I know there is a phenomenon called a white rainbow that can be seen in Hawaii ( www.magical-hawaii.com... ), but I haven't heard anyone talk about seeing a black version of a rainbow.


So am I the only one that has seen something odd like this or has anyone else seen or taken a picture of one?

I'm sure it's easily explainable, but never the less very cool.

I think I know what you're talking about in regards to a black rainbow.

Sounds like something that could be seen with proper weather conditions + forest fires.

I've never heard of black rainbows. I live in 'The Valley of Rainbows' and have seen a white one at night only once. I would love to see a black one! What were the weather conditions when you saw it? Had it rained before or after, temp. etc.?

reply to post by FaithandArms


I have not seen a White Rainbow and never heard of a Black Rainbow.
But, I have seen a Moonbow. At Cumberland Falls in Kentucky. You can only see the Moonbow when there is a Full Moon. There are only 2 places on the planet where this occurs. The other is somewhere in Africa.

I googled and wiki-ed rainbows and different rainbow types but couldn't find any recording or picture of black rainbows. Or monochrome, you say. I have seen rainbows that where all one color, orange/red like fire lit up by the setting sun. Hopefully a more avid member will help explain this because I am interested how this phenomenon occurs.

Originally posted by FaithandArms
I was reading a couple other threads and it jogged my memory about a question I had wanted to ask ATS.

Has anyone ever seen a black rainbow? I have seen two in the past... 7 or 8 years. One of the times it was overcast, but if I remember correctly the 2nd time it was clear outside. Both were also during the day, not in the morning or night.
The two I have seen are dark gray/black "rainbows" for lack of a better word. They curve like one and are thin like a normal rainbow, they just aren't colorful. I could see them with the visible eye, but they were more defined and easier to see with sunglasses on.

I know there is a phenomenon called a white rainbow that can be seen in Hawaii ( www.magical-hawaii.com... ), but I haven't heard anyone talk about seeing a black version of a rainbow.

So am I the only one that has seen something odd like this or has anyone else seen or taken a picture of one?

The white rainbow is in a black and white picture....hulloooooooo!

So if you haven't heard of a black rainbow why are you asking ?????????????

Ok, I'll play the game. Anyone seen a tartan fish. I haven't but has anyone else?

reply to post by pacifier2012


I have seen a tartan fish! Oh wait, no that was tartar fish.
Ever seen the glow-in-the dark seagull? I haven't, but I'm sure someone has!

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by FaithandArms

 

I have not seen a White Rainbow and never heard of a Black Rainbow.
But, I have seen a Moonbow. At Cumberland Falls in Kentucky. You can only see the Moonbow when there is a Full Moon. There are only 2 places on the planet where this occurs. The other is somewhere in Africa.

Well, not exactly. Moonbows can be observed anywhere on the planet in the right conditions. See Atoptics/Moonbow for details on what is required for a moonbow to appear.

I have never heard of a black rainbow. The idea does not sound plausible considering a rainbow is a refraction of light, not a physical object or material. That being said, the idea of black made me think of something else, something I even personally witnessed. Black line contrails!



Is this perhaps what you were thinking of?

More info

reply to post by FaithandArms


Pics or it didn't happen?



No seriously... wtf is a black rainbow??

well:

"And when it rains, there's a rainbow...
and all of the colors are black.
It's not that the colors aren't there,
it's imagination they lack"

Originally posted by ohiwastedmylif
I have never heard of a black rainbow. The idea does not sound plausible considering a rainbow is a refraction of light, not a physical object or material. That being said, the idea of black made me think of something else, something I even personally witnessed. Black line contrails!

Is this perhaps what you were thinking of?

More info

Now that looks really similar to what I remember. Maybe that was what it was. What I saw was more curved in the sky like when you see a rainbow, but that is really similar.

I figured whatever I was seeing was a weird light effect (like a normal rainbow). It never crossed my mind that it could be a dark contrail or something like that. Good find!

Originally posted by pacifier2012
So if you haven't heard of a black rainbow why are you asking ?????????????

Unless you have forgotten where you are this is ATS. People discuss all kinds of odd things and conspiracies here. I saw something. I had no idea what it was. Soooo... I asked here where there are people from all over the world and may know about such things and some who have more knowledge than I do on different topics.

Now within a day of posting my question I have a highly probable explanation of what I saw and hopefully everyone else who has read or posted in this thread got the chance to learn about something they maybe didn't know of either.

Originally posted by kathael
reply to post by pacifier2012

 

I have seen a tartan fish! Oh wait, no that was tartar fish.
Ever seen the glow-in-the dark seagull? I haven't, but I'm sure someone has!

I have eaten glow-in-the-dark seagull...with tartan sauce...
What I want to know is...who has seen a moonfly? I know that someone has had to see one.


Thread de-rail...in
three
two
one...

Sorry OP...black rainbows do sound intriguing...
as do rainbows in the dark on the darkest side of the sun...

Go to your eye-doctor...

reply to post by ohiwastedmylif

I saw one of those last week. I figure it must be a shadow from the contrail, but it looked really cool, the line went all the way to the horizon. I saw it while I was driving and late to pick someone up or I would have stopped and taken a picture.

reply to post by Cerricerri


Yes, they are contrail shadows, and it sounds to me like that is what the OP saw.

As for white "rainbows" they are most probably either fogbows or cloudbows.

reply to post by FaithandArms

I saw a black rainbow in 2004. It was about an hour before dawn, and it looked exactly like a regular rainbow, except in varying shades of grey and black. I tried to get a picture but it came out too dark.
It wasn't a contrail, or any other phenomena, it was a rainbow. I would love to see one again, but I don't know what kind of conditions are needed for it, so don't know when to look.
It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

reply to post by FaithandArms

The black rainbow I saw was nothing like your photo. It was bow-shaped, in varying shades of grey to black, and looked exactly like a regular rainbow, except dark. It was about an hour before dawn in 2004. It was absolutely not a contrail.