Q: A few days ago, a picture of a strange cloud that appeared in Ukraine went viral on social media.
The cloud was seen in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, just 60 miles from Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear power plant collapse.
Proximity to Chernobyl and memories of the past have confused social media users in Ukraine, who have called the harmless natural cloud a “new nuclear explosion” by Russia.
Shortly after, meteorologists explained that it was nothing but a special kind of rain cloud, also called “envelope cloud”, which is flattened and spread from the top, while the lower part of it gradually. It gets thinner and thinner.
“Although clouds rarely come in this form, there are definitely some such incidents every year, so there is nothing to be afraid of because it is a completely natural process,” he said.
Despite this explanation, proponents of conspiracy theories continued to spread images of the cloud as “evidence” of a nuclear explosion.