A close encounter of the blurred kind: Tourist snaps 'UFO' cloud

Swooping high over snow-capped peaks against a stunning sky of blue, it looks for all the world like an invading alien saucer. But there's no need to run for cover or call up Mulder and Scully just yet. For the meteorologists, of course, have a more prosaic explanation. It turns out the 'saucer' is nothing more than Altocumulus Lenticularis --a rare lens-shaped cloud that forms when moist air flows over mountains.

Diane Bowers took the photograph while on holiday at the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Spain. Mother-of-two Mrs Bowers, 45, said: 'I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted this cloud. The sky was so clear, just a pure blue, apart from this one cloud that looked just like a flying saucer. It was one of those moments that I will never forget.'


The photo now takes pride of place in Mrs Bowers's living room at her home in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.