O, To Be In England...

[Sid]

Notice the contrail on the right also has a slight shadow at the upper end.

Yes, It does. Fainter - so probably a much smaller aircraft, probably a jet flying at a slightly higher altitude than the larger airplane.

 

[Swifty]

Simple explanation: An aircraft flew across the sky lower than the cloud layer (high cirrus layer) above it!
The twisty bit in the contrail is caused by air disturbance after it left the contrail behind it.

So the light from the sun rising in the east is reflecting off the sea, back up into the sky, hitting the contrail which is in the high cirrus layer so thus causing contrail shadows on the clouds above. It could even be that the breaking waves in the foreground are acting as a mirror? .. so she got her title of 'Right time, Right place' right.

 

[kesavaross]

So the light from the sun rising in the east is reflecting off the sea, back up into the sky, hitting the contrail which is in the high cirrus layer so thus causing contrail shadows on the clouds above. It could even be that the breaking waves in the foreground are acting as a mirror? .. so she got her title of 'Right time, Right place' right.

The sun was lower in the sky than the contrail.

 

[Spookdaddy]

The explanation I've seen before is that the effect is an optical illusion and that the apparently higher shadow is actually below the contrail but viewed through the thin layer of haze (so thin, that it may not be apparent to an observer), onto which the shadow has been cast.

 

[SimonBurchell]

Fortean gold today guys. I've been on a short break visiting friends in the West Country. I had the opportunity to take a day for hiking, so set off from Falmouth along the coast path to Mawnan, of owlman fame. No sign of morgawr in the bay, but an absolutely beautiful walk. Last time I was at Mawnan church in the mid-1990s, the church was locked up. The approach through the woods on the cliffside was positively eerie, although I was primed by my Fortean reading. The photo really doesn't do it justice:

Then up to the church, with a shiver down my spine as I looked at the surrounding trees and thought of those classic sightings all those years ago:

I tried the door nearest the car park, and found it locked. A nearby sign declared the church open, so I tried the back door, which indeed granted me entry:

Fortean pilgrimage achieved!

Given the spookiness of the area dropping down to the sea, even on a stunningly beautiful spring morning, I like to think that owlman is merely dormant, awaiting its next opportunity to spring into the public consciousness.

 

[Stormkhan]

I've still got my book The Owlman & Others by one Mr. Jonathan Downes, introduction by Tony Shiels.

 

[catseye]

It was dry here all day yesterday. But the North wind was freezing - I had to do the essential gardening (cutting the grass, I was beginning to lose the dog when she went out for a wee and potting up some plants) with two coats and a hat on.

Normal service is resumed today though, it's pissing down.

 

[Steven]

Waaaargh! Who is the semi-transparent bloke in the photo?!?!?

 

[Kondoru]

Ive been there, when I was there, was a garland over the door in preparation for a wedding.

 

[AnonyJ]

March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers… as the old rhyme goes.

As a trained horticulturist and biologist in a previous life (well, over 25 years ago) there's a nugget of truth in the old rhyme. March winds can naturally prune off dead and diseased wood and branches from shrubs and trees, and April showers saturate the ground so the plants have a great start by May - fully hydrated and stimulated to grow faster and stronger with the weaker wood/shoots removed.

 

[BS3]

It was damp and grey on the shores of the Severn, but I did see Morgawr a large tree floating upstream:

 

[SimonBurchell]

It was damp and grey on the shores of the Severn, but I did see Morgawr a large tree floating upstream:

View attachment 75865

Its lost weight... poor thing, it is wasting away due to the scorn of the disbelievers...