There's no need to look to religious explanations for this amazing terrestrial display
The amazing picture above was just one of many that were snapped on a Florida evening last week, right after the announcement about the new Pope. Many people reached immediately for religious explanations, which truly does the natural world a disservice. In order to believe this cloud formation was the work of God, you would have to completely disregard all of the incredible natural beauty here on Earth. How rude.
(And why would God make this announcement in Florida? Or are the angels just better about issuing public RSVPs in Florida than in the rest of the world? Then again, Florida IS the source of a surprising percentage of the world's news of weird and stupid things, so maybe it fits.)
Many people are unaware of the incredible things that clouds get up to when you're walking along with your eyes cast down to the ground. There are incredible things happening in our upper atmosphere every day, and this little bit of sunset on a suggestively shaped wisp of vapor is just one of them.
Cloud iridescence is one thing. This is a gorgeous phenomenon that occurs when ice crystals in high atmospheric clouds reflects a spectrum, creating a rainbow effect high in the sky.
Image courtesy Flickr/nebarnix
But I'll see your cloud iridescence and raise you nacreous clouds, a formation which happens primarily in the Arctic and Antarctic skies.
Image courtesy Flickr/finnar malmquist
How about "sun pillars," which form when ice crystals shaped like plates channel light sources directly upward.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Or the Sundog, scientifically called a parhelion, which is a reflection of the sun that creates a halo in skies filled with ice crystals.
Image courtesy Flickr/simplerich
Lenticular clouds are always spectacular, and often mistaken for UFOs.
Image courtesy Flickr/daniel duende
"Glory" is a suitable name for the optical phenomenon which puts a rainbow halo around the head of a distant observer or object on a foggy day.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Everyone is familiar with rainbows. And many people know that in a double rainbow, the second (fainter) rainbow has its colors reversed. But have you ever seen a red rainbow? They occur near sunset, when atmospheric scattering does away with the blues and greens, leaving only the reds and yellows to refract back at the viewer.
Image courtesy Flickr/markkilner
Many commenters have expressed sentiments echoing those of a Facebook user who commented that "This is not just a cloud… the probability of that is simply not possible." But hey buddy, who are you calling "just" a cloud?
The only unusual thing about the "cloud angel" is how commonplace it is... and how little people seem to notice.