Sometimes nature brings us natural phenomena with special effects similar to those in Hollywood blockbusters. And if a “spontaneous sighting” like this happens, you can consider yourself lucky, because most of them require some particularly stringent conditions to form. Some of them might even make us wonder if we’re on another planet.

1. Comet Hale Bopp is seen above the ancient stone circle Stonehenge

Comet Hale-Bop orbited the sun in 1997 and became one of the brightest comets in history. It is a gift in the sky, as it can be seen with the naked eye for more than 18 months.

2. Cloud hole – a door to heaven?

Imagine that it is a very cold day and the horizon is filled with dense clouds. Suddenly, you see a big hole where you can see the sky through it. This is not the beginning of the appearance of UFOs, it is called a vent or cloud hole. This phenomenon occurs when a large number of small ice crystals break apart in the cloud layer, causing water droplets to evaporate. It’s completely physics, but incredibly magical.

3. A bow of mist that looks like an albino rainbow

When you see this rainbow, you may think that you have lost the ability to distinguish colors. Keep calm and enjoy, because a bow of mist is like an albino rainbow. Instead of being made up of water droplets, it is made up of small mist droplets. Because they are smaller, they only reflect white, giving us a kind of spooky and mysterious image.

4. It’s not waves, it’s lava on a Hawaiian beach

In May 2018, the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii exploded. It threw ash miles into the air and spewed thick fountains of lava all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The lava traveled great distances, destroying Hawaii’s largest natural freshwater lake. It also shot up to the beaches, filling Kapoho Bay and extending a new landmass nearly a mile long into the ocean.

5. Comet flew close to the Sun in 1976

Comet West was described as one of the brightest objects to pass through the inner solar system in 1976. Its nucleus split into four pieces, providing a spectacular view of its long tail. At the time, this was one of the very few comet breakups observed from Earth.

6. Pyroclastic flows create volcanic lightning

Seeing an erupting volcano is a rare thing, but another extraordinary event can add to the uniqueness of this sight. When a volcano erupts, it releases a pyroclastic flow, a stream of hot gas and ash that moves at rapid speeds. Sometimes, the power it creates throws things together, combined with extremely high temperatures, creating an incredible light show.

7. Rare rainbow waterfall in Yosemite National Park

Only a few lucky people got to witness this scene live at Yosemite National Park, when the waterfall turned into a rainbow. This is an excellent example of a situation when sunlight reflects on water droplets under special circumstances. It looks like Photoshop, but is a work of Mother Nature.

8. Frozen waves on the Croatian coast

A fierce storm threw waves ashore, then quickly froze them in sub-zero temperatures in 2012. Ocean waves crashed onto benches and lampposts on the promenade around the beach, freezes upon impact. This has left the coast of Senj, Croatia, covered in hard layers of ice that look like ice cream.

9. The desert is filled with fresh flowers

California’s desert “super blooms” typically occur every 10 years. It requires a range of conditions such as: steady rainfall, warm temperatures and weak winds. At that time, the desert will turn into a colorful picture with thousands of wildflowers blooming at the same time. A great gift for everyone.

10. Sun pillar on sea ice

The reflection of light on small ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere can create a solar column. If the light comes from a sunset, this event can “freeze” us in a beautiful moment.

11. A super giant blood moon rose behind the Parthenon in 2018

A total lunar eclipse combined with a supermoon is a relatively rare phenomenon. In the 21st century, there were 87 total lunar eclipses, of which only 28 were supermoons. In 2018, skywatchers could see a super moon and a combined solar eclipse for the first time in decades, bathing the moon in a fiery red light.

12. Iridescent clouds

If we see the sky shining as if there were giant soap bubbles floating in it, we are not having a hallucination, but an opportunity to witness iridescent clouds. This unusual effect only occurs when very uniform water droplets diffract the sunset light.

13. The Himalayas appear for the first time in 30 years

In April 2020, a sharp drop in pollution levels caused a realistic image of the Dhauladhar Mountains to appear resplendent in the eyes of people living 213 km away, something unprecedented for decades.

14. Snow falls in spring in Tokyo

Seeing snow in Tokyo (Japan) is nothing special, but what makes it really surprising is that it happened in April – when the cherry trees are in full bloom. Tokyo gets snow about 7.6 times per season, mainly in January and February. And this year 2020 was the first spring snowfall in 32 years.

15. Midnight sunset

During the summer months in Iceland, the sun is still visible at midnight local time. And you can witness a sunset at 1:30 am. And if you watch this moment at the height of 60 meters of Seljalandsfoss waterfall, it will be extremely breathtaking.