Today saw one of the most beautiful sights in the Salt Lake City skies – as locals described it as ‘The Oppenheimer Cloud’. This title paid homage to the upcoming movie of the same name, which is based on the US scientist, J Robert Oppenheimer, and his creation of the first-ever nuclear bomb. This title was appropriate for the cloud, which eerily mimicked the shape of a mushroom cloud.

It’s fair to say that the weather across the entire country has been pretty wild of late. With this in mind, it’s not too surprising that Salt Lake City got its own visual spectacle in the form of this ginormous cloud that appeared above the city. Further still, the cloud’s placement was spot-on, as it was located in the hills as if it was some kind of man-made explosion or experiment.

Locals were truly in awe by the shape of it – with one writing, “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that in random clouds.” Elsewhere, others claimed that this was an actual advert for the Oppenheimer movie and was purposely made – however, this was just an internet rumor.

The cloud itself is a rare Altocumulus Lenticularis which is when moisture is pushed up over a mountain. They don’t move because all the moisture is contained in that one area which makes them sit for hours at a time. Honestly, it’s a pretty cool sight and shows just how fascinating nature can be at times. If you happened to see this in person, then count yourself lucky!