Strange Smoke Ring Spotted In Florida

Okay so this may be much ado about nothing but thought I would share anyway, so take it easy on me guys

WTSP News station in Florida received multiple reports and images of a strange smoke ring hovering in the sky in northern Pinellas County Thursday night.

Viewers sent in pictures from Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, and Clearwater. We reached out to the National Weather Service, Duke Energy and Pinellas County emergency dispatchers, and no one could explain the mysterious ring.

Krzysztof Humienny of Clearwater described it as a "thin ring-shaped tornado, just spinning sideways in a joined circle [and] slowly moving across the sky."

It remained in sight for just a short time, and then it was gone.

"From when I saw it, it lasted a few minutes and then faded away like a cloud. I don't know what it was or how it started," Humienny explained.

There is more pictures of it here

Could very well be a mundane reason for this but I think it looks similar to this photo taken by Rex Heflin after he photographed a mysterious craft in the sky in the 1960's -

Link to Rex heflin Photos and info.

Link to news article here

Wow that is pretty cool. Not sure what it is and I'm sure there will be people along shortly to explain how that is a natural phenomenon. I eagerly await their explanations as well as the people who think it may be extraterrestrial in nature.

That is odd !

It looks like a saint halo

Here`s another one:
photos.nola.com...

There is also a video on the left of the page here where the news anchor talks to an eyewitness who says that it was not moving with the wind.

Here's one from 2010 over Chicago , the cause of this one was stated to be a transformer blow out , chances are a similar event caused the one in Florida .

When something loses GPS signal it goes in a circle. Could this be some sort of small flying vehicle that lost signal and started circling. Usually you would not notice the exhaust but if it was flying in a circle, the air it intakes would be low in oxygen causing it to burn poorly. This keeps the plane from crashing, as soon as signal is returned it goes on it's merry way. Without a safety program like this the plane would just keep flying and wind up possibly hitting a high building.

I like the smoke ring machine video above, that is also a good possibility.

reply to post by gortex


How does a transformer blowing out create a ring of smoke that hovers in the air? Usually when a piece of machinery blows out, it just spews out a steady stream of smoke that doesn't take any form whatsoever. Like even if the transformer blew out and had a circular ring cracked in the chassis, there would still be a steady stream of smoke pouring out. This just appears to be a constant ring of smoke.

Looks like the same sort of thing that was seen over King's Dominion, which turned out to be from a volcano ride.







You can make your own with gasoline and a steel drum.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


It's possible that it could be a circular swarm of birds.

gortex
Here's one from 2010 over Chicago , the cause of this one was stated to be a transformer blow out , chances are a similar event caused the one in Florida .

And here's one from Texas
Bizarre black smoke ring hovers over College Station: A baffling trouble?

While many hoped for evidence of a truly inexplicable event, Paul Buckner with Bryan Texas Utilities tells KBTX-TV Ch. 3 that the otherworldly puff of smoke was nothing more than the aftermath of a burnt-out power transformer.

"We had a current transformer that failed . . . and it caught fire," he explains. "It contains oil, and the oil caught fire and caused that smoke ring."

reply to post by gortex


Cool video, yeah the news anchor mentioned that and say that they will follow it up to see if it was the same thing that happened in this case, just wait and see I suppose.

Google "toroidal vortices".

reply to post by Krazysh0t

How does a transformer blowing out create a ring of smoke that hovers in the air?

Don't know but they do .

The smoke ring went up about 8:20 p.m. after a transformer housed in a substation blew up, causing about 3,000 customers to lose power. “Witnesses reported hearing a loud 'boom' and many snapped pictures of a mushroom shaped cloud, which quickly formed into a black smoke ring that lingered in the air above South College Station for about half an hour,”
Smoke ring hovers over Aggieland

Video

reply to post by gortex


Alright then. Guess it can happen. Strange world we live in at times isn't it?

reply to post by draknoir2

Good post.

I made one once with a half pound of black powder and a 55 gallon steel drum.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


A star for you...and I would suggest others to take the time and read of the Rex Heflin Polaroids story OP has linked to. I vaguely remember reading his story& seeing his photos before.

As to yesterday's smoke ring...well, a blown transformer would be easy to find/verify. Time will tell, but the FL smoke ring looks very different from the Chicago & Tx Rings (which are much much smokier.)

Vortex Rings

Thus, a vortex ring can carry mass much further and with less dispersion than a jet of fluid. That explains, for instance, why a smoke ring keeps traveling long after any extra smoke blown out with it has stopped and dispersed

I bet its just a person who pulled off the top lid of their extremely smokey BBQ's too fast. Ive done it before

gortex
Here's one from 2010 over Chicago , the cause of this one was stated to be a transformer blow out , chances are a similar event caused the one in Florida .

More than likely this^^ Back in 2001, there was this little storm the week of 9-11 that blew through, called Gabrielle. After it moved through the area, I went and walked around the neighborhood to ogle the wind damage. I had the misfortune of being very near a transformer when the f***er went boom. It generated a ring just like the one you shared. Between the deafening boom, damn near sh**ing myself, my ears ringing, and the smoke ring, it was one of the freakiest moments I ever experienced. I was jumpy for weeks afterward with loud noises.