The 'Fire Rainbow' over Idaho
In 2006, people in Idaho looked up to see a cloud blazing with rainbow colours, like flames in the sky.
What was reported
In June 2006, a photograph taken near the border of Idaho and Washington showed a large, wispy cloud glowing in bands of red, orange, green, blue and violet, as if the sky were on fire. The image went around the world, with many people calling it a 'fire rainbow'.
Similar sights are reported in summer in many places. Some people take them for signs, strange weather experiments or something burning.
Explanations offered
It's a circumhorizontal arc, made when sunlight passes through flat, six-sided ice crystals in thin, high clouds. It can only happen when the Sun is high in the sky, so it's seen mostly in summer and at mid-latitudes. It has nothing to do with fire or rainbows, which are made by raindrops.
- When
- June 2006
- Where
- Near the Idaho–Washington border, USA
- Witnesses
- People near the Idaho–Washington border
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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