Many people have mistaken a cloud for a UFO at some point. Those who have seen these types of clouds have thought that nature is mocking the existence of life beyond our planet. However, this is not the case. These formations in the sky are due to the existence of lenticular clouds . They are a type of cloud shaped like a saucer or a converging lens, and they generally appear in mountainous areas.
In this article we are going to tell you what these lenticular clouds are and how they are formed. If you are curious and want to unravel these mysteries, this is your post 
What are lenticular clouds?
As we've mentioned, these are a type of cloud that has a saucer or UFO shape and appears in mountainous areas. The fact that they only appear in mountainous regions can give us clues about the formation conditions required for them to develop this shape. These clouds form in the troposphere, that is, in the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
The characteristics of this cloud are those of an altocumulus. Unlike typical altocumulus clouds, it is a stationary, lenticular type (called altocumulus lenticularis by scientists ). It can also take the form of a stationary lenticular cirrocumulus or a stationary lenticular stratocumulus. These formations depend on environmental and atmospheric conditions such as wind patterns, atmospheric pressure , humidity , and temperatures at the time.
The most distinctive feature of these clouds is that they create stunning landscapes and have often been mistaken for UFO sightings. Furthermore, their formation resembles other atmospheric phenomena such as orographic clouds and altocumulus clouds.
Training process
To clear up any questions about the exceptional rarity of these clouds, let's explain how they form. As mentioned before, they require several atmospheric and environmental conditions. The first is a relatively strong updraft that encounters a temperature inversion in the atmosphere . These conditions are more likely to occur in mountainous areas, where the air, upon encountering rock formations, is forced to rise.
Mountains act as mechanical barriers to airflow in the atmosphere, and this is what causes phenomena like the Foehn effect . As air rises during a temperature inversion, it generates turbulence, which is classified as mechanical turbulence. The air eventually reaches the summit at a much lower temperature than it had at or near the surface.
As air continues to rise higher in the atmosphere, the temperature continues to drop due to the temperature inversion. If the air that has risen up the mountain is humid, meaning it carries water droplets, the moisture condenses as the temperature decreases with altitude, reaching the dew point. As the rising air condenses, a cloud mass forms, growing until it reaches the mountain's summit . Upon encountering the temperature inversion, this cloud will form lenticular clouds. This formation is related to other cloud types and is part of the study of lenticular cloud formation.
Necessary conditions for their training
You're probably thinking that temperature inversions are almost always present and that it gets colder as we ascend. Therefore, lenticular clouds should always form. It's true that, generally, the upper layers of the atmosphere are colder than the lower ones. These lower layers are heated by the heat radiated from the ground as solar radiation strikes the Earth's surface.
But this isn't always the case. Sometimes the ground is colder due to a decrease in the amount of sunlight hitting a surface, or even because of the surface's color (remember that darker colors absorb heat and white colors reflect it; this is called albedo ). When the ground is colder, it can absorb all the heat from the surrounding air, causing the lower layers of air to be warmer than the upper ones. This is the situation in which we find a temperature inversion.
Areas with temperature inversions tend to be stable over time, so as the air rises up the mountainside, it displaces the warm air above, which then descends, creating stationary zones that trap condensed moisture and give the cloud its lenticular shape. This is why these clouds resemble UFOs and have often been mistaken for them. To better understand their formation, it's fascinating to explore other types of clouds.
Why avoid flying near lenticular clouds?
It's always been said that pilots try to avoid flying near lenticular clouds at all costs. Let's see why this happens. Lenticular clouds form when the wind is strong and carrying moisture . The updraft and condensation as the air rises is quite rapid. The presence of a high, stationary layer of thermal inversion causes the wind to circulate upwards for a considerable time.
These cloud formations can also occur when two opposing air masses collide, causing the warmer air to rise and the cooler air to act as a mechanical obstacle. Pilots avoid flying in these areas because the wind associated with these clouds is very strong and updraft, which can cause serious instability during flight. Furthermore, this characteristic is also related to other meteorological phenomena that can affect flight.
On the other hand, this type of wind is highly sought after in unpowered flights, as the air currents are used to glide more effectively and sustain flight for longer periods. Interestingly, the world record for unpowered flight was achieved thanks to the air currents that create lenticular clouds.
I hope this information helps you learn more about this type of cloud and its formation.