Watch CBS News

Cool Smoke Ring Caught Floating Over Denver Saturday Evening

DENVER (CBS4) - Dozens of people saw something odd in the sky over Denver around sunset on Saturday and took to social media with great wonder about the mysterious cloud-like feature, including myself. It resembled a smoke ring and appeared to float by with subtle changes to the shape over time.

All kinds of explanations were offered up ranging from aliens to a failing transformer to a flock of birds or insects. One of my favorite comments came from Ashley Carter on Facebook, saying whatever it is I wouldn't want to be under it!

CBS4 viewer Tom Daggett sent us the video below. He caught the strange sight around 7:40 p.m. Saturday from his deck in lower downtown. He said it lasted about five minutes.

After putting out a plea on social media for other witnesses and to find out if anyone had an explanation I had several immediate replies, including one from Rachel Kolkow. She was attending the Supercross event at Mile High and said it was a smoke ring from a cannon shot off during the event.

She snapped the following picture of the smoke ring as it floated high above the stadium. She said it lasted for several minutes.

The longer the smoke ring floated in the air the more twisted the shape became due to changes in wind speed and direction above the ground.

Our CBS4 roof cam in the Outdoor Weather Lab was pointed west to capture the sunset when the remnants of the smoke ring suddenly appeared. Master control operator Ben Pliska grabbed his phone and snapped the following video of the interesting sight.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.