---
title: "Satellite Spots Circular Holes in Clouds Over Florida"
description: "NASA's Terra satellite has captured a stunning image of \"fallstreak holes\" or \"hole-punch clouds,\" scientifically known as cavum clouds."
date: "2024-03-02"
modified: "2024-03-02"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/satellite-spots-circular-holes-clouds-florida"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "air travel"
  - "clouds"
  - "NASA"
  - "satellites"
  - "the digest"
---

# Satellite Spots Circular Holes in Clouds Over Florida

![NASA's Terra satellite has captured a stunning image of "fallstreak holes" or "hole-punch clouds," scientifically known as cavum clouds.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/satellite-spots-circular-holes-clouds-florida.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Sky Hole Punch

NASA's Terra satellite has [captured a stunning image](<https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152486/making-sense-of-holes-in-the-clouds>) of "fallstreak holes" or "hole-punch clouds," scientifically known as cavum clouds, hovering over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.

The massive, sinkhole-like objects vaguely resemble droplets of water, floating thousands of feet above the surface.

Their appearance has been repeatedly and [erroneously linked](<https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.339D2NG>) to UFOs and extraterrestrials — which is a considerable overreach, given their far more mundane, Earth-based explanation: airplanes flying through clouds.

## Canal Clouds

These particular formations were likely caused by planes taking off and landing at the Miami International Airport, per NASA.

As planes fly through supercooled liquid water droplets in altocumulus clouds between 6,500 and 20,000 feet, the droplets have a chance to freeze.

Once they freeze, they drop out of the sky, forming wispy trails called virga underneath their much larger altocumuls clouds, resulting in circular holes that can easily be spotted from the ground and by satellites.

Depending on the angle of the plane, "canal clouds" can form as well as cavum clouds, which are elongated tunnels bored through much larger altocumulus clouds.

Researchers have [shown](<https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/91/6/2009bams2905_1.xml>) that a variety of aircraft can cause these formations, including private jets and military turboprops.

In short, it may look like an otherworldly apparition over the Gulf of Mexico — but their explanation is far simpler than that, one of the many ways humanity leaves its mark on the world around us.

**More on clouds:** *[Scientists Find Microplastics Inside Clouds](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-find-microplastics-inside-clouds>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)