The City Times published a photo on its Facebook page on February 23 of a blue streak in the sky, which was apparently photographed in Rynfield on February 18.
The post was shared over 25 times and had over 80 comments within 20 hours.
While a reader joked that aliens could be to blame, many shared their own photos of the occurrence that was captured in corners of Benoni – and even Brakpan.
Climatologist Clive Webber provided two possible explanations for the streak in the sky.
The Rynfield resident said the first possibility could be that a plane flew through the haze of a cirrostratus cloud.
An aircraft would have warmed the air in the cloud, which would have melted crystals and broken the haziness, leading to a dark blue streak in the sky.
The second possibility, and Webber’s less likely explanation, is that a large, isolated cumulonimbus cloud blocked the setting sun’s rays.
This would have cast a shadow in the sky, making the area in the shadow darker than that around it.
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