UFO cloud invades the skyline

Eerie image suggests the truth is out there

UFO cloud invades the skyline

Gazing at clouds and debating the swirling shapes they form isn’t an inherently scary activity. In fact, a visit from a particularly irate wasp notwithstanding, it’s about as gentle as you can get

But things took a distinctly sinister turn for one amateur photographer when he encountered what looked uncannily like a UFO hovering in the sky.

Dmitry Gorilovskiy, who thankfully wasn’t yanked up by a stray tractor beam, captured the foreboding image while wandering through Aquila Game Reserve on South Africa’s Western Cape.

This formation — officially known as a lenticular cloud — is found in mountainous regions and is coveted by glider pilots, but it’s rare for one to be so well-defined.

Little wonder, then, that Gorilovskiy has entered his picture (simply entitled ‘The Cloud’) into National Geographic’s lauded annual photo contest. And with a grand prize of $10,000 (£6,400), you can hardly blame him.

There are more than 13,000 entries — including one of Pakistani trees encased in spider webs following flooding, and a ghostly image of Dubai’s 829-metre Burj Khalifa — jostling to be named victor in two weeks.

But even with those odds, we wouldn’t bet against a certain cloud (and a bewildered zebra) claiming the prize.

Nationalgeographic.com

As a Staff Writer at Shortlist, Holly dabbles in a bit of everything. Having started her career as a news reporter, she has since decided to return to the world of the living.