2007-03-09 - Margate, FL - Circle

Margate Fl. - Large Circle in clouds with light on bottom side - pulling a cloud (twisting) into it

On March 9, 2007 at 09:52 hrs.- 09:54 am in Broward County Florida, in the town of Margate (zip code 33063) I witnessed the following shape/object in the clouds looking southeast from my location, while I was in the back yard of a customer's home. The object was a large circular shape that first appeared as a hole in the clouds with a stream of lower clouds being pulled up into it, in a twisting motion. This twisting motion is what first caught my attention.

I viewed the object for about 30 seconds thinking that it was just a strange cloud formation in a perfect circle. I have seen ice crystal circles in clouds that form around the sun during the cold winter months in northern states. However this is South Florida and it was in the 70's. At that point I decided to take a picture of it with my camera phone. The sun was shining brightly in my eyes just to the left of the object so it was difficult to see how the camera was positioned.

After taking the first picture I noticed that the shape/object was quickly being covered by clouds. I took a second picture less than 1 minute later to try and capture what I was seeing. After taking the second picture I walked around to the front of the house and took the third and final picture from that location due to a wider view from which to take the picture. By this point the object was gone and the clouds were returning to a normal drifting motion While I was standing in the front yard the customer approached me to mention something pertaining to the work I was doing and I asked her if she had noticed the shape/object in the sky. She looked up and saw what was left of the circular formation in the clouds and asked “what do you think that is”. I said “I don’t know”.

After viewing the pictures later on that day I realized that the first picture actually captured much more than I could see with my eyes since the sun was to the left of the object making it difficult to stare at it for very long. There is a light beam from the sun that is deflecting off of the top of the object as well as what looks like a small light on the bottom right side of the object. Also the twisting motion of the lower cloud being pulled up into, or following the circular shape is clearly visible in all 3 pictures. Even after the object was gone, the twisted cloud slowly drifted away as though it had simply been sucked momentarily but was not affected in any other fashion. I would liken the motion to dust following a car on a dirt road, which pulls up into a twisting motion off of the road.

I am sending all three pictures as evidence to what I saw. They may not be copied, reproduced, exchanged, or sold in any form or fashion without my permission.