Mysterious object in the Calgary sky identified
Posted Jan 21, 2016 12:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The mystery of a strange streak spotted in the sky in Calgary on Tuesday may have been solved.
Shortly before sunset, many people from all over the city immediately took to social media to post what they saw.
Some people described it as burning as it fell, with pieces falling off and glowing.
One person even said there were explosions.
Storm chaser Chris Ratzlaff tells 660 News, it is commonly referred to as a contrail, a cloud that forms around the exhaust of an airplane as it travels.
Ratzlaff says the twisting and turning nature of the contrail is the result of a disturbance by upper level winds, the bright portions are lit by the sunset which also makes it look like it’s burning up and the perspective makes a departing contrail look like it’s falling.
