Bizarre Illuminated Cloud Seen Above Covington, Louisiana
A bizarre illuminated cloud or contrail was seen above Covington, Louisiana on the evening of January 18, 2022, causing many residents to take notice:
Contrails (condensation trails) are typical in the area but it’s rare to see them illuminated. This happens sometimes when the sun is setting or rising, shining its light only on an individual cloud.
Contrails or vapor trails are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several miles above the Earth’s surface. Contrails are composed primarily of water, in the form of ice crystals. The combination of water vapor in aircraft engine exhaust and the low ambient temperatures that exist at high altitudes allows the formation of the trails. Impurities in the engine exhaust from the fuel, including sulfur compounds (0.05% by weight in jet fuel) provide some of the particles that can serve as sites for water droplet growth in the exhaust and, if water droplets form, they might freeze to form ice particles that compose a contrail.
