Unusual-looking clouds spotted over South Africa, UFO-shaped clouds have Cape Town citizens baffled

A brilliant show was just recently seen in the skies above Cape Town, South Africa as unusual-looking clouds suddenly appeared on the skies. And social media was pretty busy as Capetonians took to the streets to capture one of nature's spectacles on film, which left them puzzled.

According to KTLA5, lights were seen on Saturday night in Los Angeles, but another brilliant show was seen in the skies above Cape Town, South Africa, the next day. And residents of the town have seen these beautiful yet strange- looking cloud formations in the daytime sky and some compared what they saw to UFOs.

Moreover, social media was abuzz on Sunday as Capetonians took to the streets to capture the odd-looking UFO clouds. The clouds formed formations, with some Twitter users commenting that it looked like UFO's. "Weird UFO clouds over Cape Town," posted Monique Jackson on her Twitter account. 

But these so-called UFO clouds are nothing to fear.They are in fact lenticular clouds, according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. "These are fairly common clouds known as stratocumulus standing lenticularis," he wrote on his Facebook account. He added, "They form when conditions are just right. Air flows along the surface of the earth and reaches some sort of obstruction like a mountain or valley."

Meteorologists refer to these clouds as lenticular clouds, which form when strong, moist winds blow over rough terrain, such as mountains or valleys. And Cape Town is framed by such features, including the 3,500-foot Table Mountain.

Previously, a number of reports of UFO sightings have been linked to lenticular clouds, which can form in many other parts around the world. Other UFO sightings have been attributed to hole-punch clouds, which are formed by miniature snowstorms in thin, subfreezing cloud layers.

For now, the clouds elicited a variety of reactions in social media from Cape Town locals as well as other people around the world. Di Brown for instance, compared them to "a tornado on pause mode."