You’re looking up on a crisp afternoon and see it. A massive, circular void right in the middle of an otherwise uniform blanket of clouds. It looks like someone punched a hole through the sky or maybe a UFO just pulled a disappearing act. People call it a tear in the clouds, but meteorologists have a much nerdier name for it: a fallstreak hole. Honestly, it’s one of those rare moments where the sky looks broken, but it’s actually just physics doing something incredibly weird.
It’s easy to get spooked. In the age of social media, every time a photo of a tear in the clouds goes viral, the comments section fills up with talk of "glitches in the matrix" or secret government experiments. But the reality is way more interesting than a sci-fi trope. These holes are the result of a delicate chemical balance being disrupted, usually by us. Specifically, by our planes.
How a Tear in the Clouds Actually Forms
To understand why the sky looks like it’s ripping open, you have to realize that clouds aren't always what they seem. Sometimes, the water droplets in clouds are "supercooled." This is a fancy way of saying the water is below freezing—32°F or 0°C—but it hasn't turned into ice yet. It’s sitting there in a liquid state, just waiting for a reason to freeze.
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Think of it like a bottle of purified water you leave in the freezer. Sometimes it stays liquid until you bump it or open the cap, and then bam, the whole thing turns to slush in seconds. The atmosphere does the exact same thing.
When an airplane flies through these layers of supercooled clouds—usually altocumulus or cirrocumulus clouds—the air expanding behind the wing or propeller blades cools down rapidly. This sudden drop in temperature is the "bump" the water needed. The droplets instantly freeze into ice crystals.
Once those first few crystals form, a chain reaction kicks off. This is the Bergeron-Findeisen process. Basically, the ice crystals start "eating" the surrounding water vapor. They get heavy. They start to fall. As they drop out of the cloud layer, they leave behind a massive, gaping hole. That’s your tear in the clouds.
The Role of Aviation in Sky Punching
We didn't really understand this fully until a few decades ago. For a long time, these were just "hole-punch clouds" that appeared randomly. But researchers, including those from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), started noticing a pattern. These holes often appeared near airports.
A 2011 study published in the journal Science really nailed it down. By looking at satellite imagery and flight tracks, researchers proved that planes were the primary trigger. It’s not just big commercial jets either. Private props and even military aircraft can trigger a tear in the clouds if the atmospheric conditions are just right.
Why Doesn't It Happen Every Time a Plane Flies?
The conditions have to be perfect. You need a thin layer of clouds. You need that supercooled water. If the cloud layer is too thick or the temperature is too warm, the plane just flies through and nothing happens. It’s a rare alignment of meteorology and human travel.
Sometimes, instead of a circular hole, you get a long, straight "canal cloud." This usually happens when the plane is flying at a shallow angle through the cloud layer rather than climbing or descending steeply. It looks like a giant zipper was pulled across the sky.
Misconceptions and "The Matrix"
Let’s be real: when you see a tear in the clouds, it looks unnatural. It has these wispy, trailing bits in the middle—those are called virga. Virga is just rain or ice that evaporates before it hits the ground. Because the ice crystals in a fallstreak hole are falling, they create these beautiful, ghostly trails that hang in the center of the void.
Because of that central "plug" of falling ice, people often mistake these for:
- Rocket launches
- Secret weapons testing
- Meteor entries
- Portal openings
It’s none of those. It’s just ice. But because it’s so geometric and sudden, our brains struggle to categorize it as "natural."
Why You Should Care if You See One
Beyond just being a cool photo op for your Instagram, a tear in the clouds is a reminder of how much we actually impact the atmosphere. We aren't just emitting CO2; we are physically changing the state of the clouds we fly through.
From a pilot's perspective, these aren't dangerous. They don't indicate severe turbulence or a brewing storm. They are more like a footprint in the snow—a temporary mark left behind by a passing traveler.
If you’re a photographer, seeing one of these is like hitting the lottery. The light often catches the ice crystals in the center, creating a "sundog" or a localized rainbow effect known as iridescence. It’s one of the few times the sky looks like a literal oil painting.
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How to Spot a Fallstreak Hole Yourself
You can’t really "hunt" these, but you can increase your odds of seeing a tear in the clouds. Look up on days when there are high, thin, "mackerel" skies—those clouds that look like fish scales. If you live within 50 miles of a major airport, keep your eyes peeled during the winter or early spring. That's when supercooled water is most likely to be hanging out at mid-to-high altitudes.
Don't look for a storm. Look for a flat, boring gray or white sky. That’s the canvas where these "tears" show up best.
Actionable Next Steps for Skywatchers
If you spot a tear in the clouds, don't just snap a photo and walk away. There is actually some cool stuff you can do to understand what you're seeing:
- Check Flightradar24: Open a flight tracking app immediately. See if a plane just passed over your location or is currently climbing through that altitude. You can often match the hole to a specific flight.
- Look for the Virga: Use binoculars to look at the center of the hole. If you see wispy, trailing fibers, you’re looking at the ice crystals falling and evaporating. This confirms it’s a fallstreak and not just a random gap in the clouds.
- Check the Temperature: If you have access to local aviation weather reports (METARs), look for the "freezing level." If the clouds are at an altitude where the temperature is between 0°C and -15°C, you’re in the prime zone for supercooled water.
- Note the Shape: A circular hole means the plane was climbing or descending. A long "canal" means it was cruising. It tells you exactly what the aircraft was doing when it "broke" the sky.
Understanding a tear in the clouds takes the "spooky" out of the experience and replaces it with genuine wonder. It’s a rare moment where human technology and atmospheric physics shake hands, leaving a giant, temporary mark on the blue canvas above us.