Mysterious Cylinder in the Sky Has Simple, Scientific Roots
Imagine driving over a bridge and spotting a giant, rolling tube stretching across the sky—looking more like something out of a sci-fi movie than a summer afternoon in Tennessee. That’s exactly what happened to people near Adamsville in June 2018. Colby Hutton snapped a photo of a cloud formation so strange, neighbors started buzzing about UFOs and tornadoes. His mom, Angie Hutton, shared it on Facebook, and the post exploded. Suddenly everyone wanted to know: what was that thing?
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) put the speculation to rest quickly. They labeled it a roll cloud, one of the rarer atmospheric tricks out there. Most folks, even weather enthusiasts, can go decades without seeing one in person. But what exactly makes these clouds so unusual?
What Sets a Roll Cloud Apart?
Roll clouds are a type of arcus cloud, but they don’t look much like the storm clouds we know. Instead of stacking vertically like a thunderhead, a roll cloud stretches out horizontally, like a giant pipe hanging just under the sky. These clouds form when a surge of cool air pushes under a layer of moist, warm air—usually right after a thunderstorm or cold front passes through. As the warm air gets lifted and cools down below its dew point, it condenses into a cloud. But here’s the neat part: thanks to certain wind patterns, the cloud starts to roll along a horizontal axis, almost like a sky-bound treadmill.
What confused so many in Adamsville was just how alien the cloud looked. People described it as an ‘overturned tornado’ or even a flying saucer in disguise. It seems wild, but the confusion is understandable—roll clouds are physically detached from thunderstorm bases and don’t spin vertically like funnel clouds do. NASA joined the conversation, jumping in to clarify that, while mesmerizing, roll clouds are not the harbingers of tornadoes or alien visits.
It wasn’t just Adamsville residents swapping guesses, either. The photograph spread online, stirring hundreds of comments and reactions from people who’d never witnessed anything remotely similar. Meteorologists explained this was a once-in-a-lifetime scene for most: these clouds just don’t show up every stormy day, and when they do, they tend to disappear as quickly as they form.
So, no—no tornado, no UFO. Just the atmosphere showing off, if only for a moment, and giving one small Tennessee community a story to tell for years to come. For weather geeks and casual sky-watchers alike, the roll cloud sighting was a powerful reminder that the planet still has a few visual tricks up its sleeve.
