Mysterious sightings of smoke rings have been labelled or confused in the past for Unidentified Flying Objects. A vortex ring or smoke ring can be formed in the atmosphere by a rising (falling) mass of warm (cold) air, which is also called a thermal (microburst). One is occasionally at the core of a mushroom cloud, and they can be seen at fire eater presentations.

The above picture was taken in May 2010, during the Air and Land Spectacular held in Helidon (Queensland, Australia). The following article appeared in The Chronicle (http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2010/05/19/barry-rodgers-vortex-ring-ufo-confusion/): Barry Rodgers’ black smoke rings have caught the attention of metropolitan newspapers. Mr Rodgers was surprised to learn that the “mysterious halos”, caused by demonstrations at the weekend’s Emu Gully Air and Land Spectacular, had been confused for Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). “There were unusual atmospheric conditions on the weekend,” Mr Rodgers said. “Even our pyrotechnician said he had never seen anything like it before. “Technically (there are caused by) a combination of the pyrotechnics used and the way it was laid out in one of the battle scenarios … it was still a very rare occurrence.” The Air and Land Spectacular held in Helidon featured fiery explosions and simulated trench warfare. Reports yesterday confirmed that the UFOs were actually smoke rings caused by a natural phenomenon known as a “vortex ring”.

Telltale signs:

Herebelow are some nice pictures from smoke rings eruptions from the Stromboli’ s volcano and from military pyrotechnics (ref. wikipedia’s external links)

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Ressources:

For further information and illustrations, the free on line encyclopedia “Wikipedia” can be consulted at: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_ring