{"id":5042,"date":"2026-03-23T14:47:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/?p=5042"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:47:55","slug":"unexplained-aerial-phenomenon-mysterious-rings-above-mount-etna-ignite-speculation-of-an-extraterrestrial-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/unexplained-aerial-phenomenon-mysterious-rings-above-mount-etna-ignite-speculation-of-an-extraterrestrial-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexplained Aerial Phenomenon: Mysterious Rings Above Mount Etna Ignite Speculation of an Extraterrestrial Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Volcanic smoke rings are rare, especially when this numerous, and scientists weren\u2019t sure until recently how they formed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"sFlh5c pT0Scc iPVvYb aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/GettyImages-1603619250.jpg?w=720\" alt=\"Rare smoke rings sighted above Mount Etna, and more from around the world\" width=\"626\" height=\"438\" aria-hidden=\"false\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re not UFOs, angel halos, a bit of Gandalf wizardry or a \u201cgiant smoking and blowing rings,\u201d as one commenter joked.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sFlh5c pT0Scc iPVvYb aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/preview.redd.it\/smoke-rings-on-mount-edna-this-was-observed-once-before-in-v0-qo4xfqsndldb1.jpg?width=640&amp;crop=smart&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=036ed1c61be95531c196acfad1c0e0f37fccfaa0\" alt=\"Smoke rings on Mount Edna. This was observed once before in 2013\/14. (References in body text) : r\/Damnthatsinteresting\" aria-hidden=\"false\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The series of otherworldly photos Maria Liotta took from her home in Bronte, Sicily, Italy, on April 5, 2024, show a bizarre phenomenon known as \u201cvolcanic smoke rings.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.accuweather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/435383768_7124361847689263_2924468939220179331_n.jpg?w=632\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Smoke rings over Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy, on April 5, 2024. (Maria Liotta)<\/p>\n<div class=\"eyeo\" data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1387821\" data-src-id=\"${PUBLISHER_ID}\" data-uid=\"15c11\">\n<div id=\"mgw1387821_15c11\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"mgbox\">\n<div id=\"2aabb19e-26c7-11f1-ba7b-d404e6c03750\" class=\"mgline teaser-24566715 type-w\" data-i=\"V4bgJaQaQvpk56kdc7b3c99SNtNypNZ9IH4q7d6ZafakZHLgy7CYk2Qr8VpRGs1LtSsSOIsLe3NuADnGL6NH2Efxr3H4EByQVzcgqbvD71PmTC6dYcadgpSQwKrso_uh\" data-observing-start=\"1774277244912\" data-observing-time=\"1034\" data-showed=\"1\">\n<div class=\"image-with-text\">\n<div class=\"text-elements\">\n<div class=\"text_on_hover\">\n<div class=\"mglbtn\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The rings arose from Mount Etna, Europe\u2019s most active volcano. Etna rises 11,000 feet above the island of Sicily in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The volcano erupts frequently, and its explosions have been documented for more than 3,500 years.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.accuweather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/435335121_7124360847689363_7860190887069570573_n.jpg?w=632\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Smoke rings over Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy, on April 5, 2024. (Maria Liotta)<\/p>\n<p>Until recently, how the smoke rings form wasn\u2019t well understood. Formation requires a calm atmosphere and a circular volcanic vent. And, technically, it isn\u2019t really smoke.<\/p>\n<div class=\"eyeo\" data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1655783\" data-uid=\"03bc2\">\n<div id=\"mgw1655783_03bc2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When hot volcanic gases are released suddenly from the vent in a short pulse, the gases rush upwards and create a cloud, not unlike plane contrails. While the smoke rings have been documented at volcanoes worldwide, multiple displays like this one are extremely rare.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.accuweather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/435260071_7124361281022653_5598954811456148366_n.jpg?w=632\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Smoke rings over Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy, on April 5, 2024. (Maria Liotta)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volcanic smoke rings are rare, especially when this numerous, and scientists weren\u2019t sure until recently how they formed. They\u2019re not UFOs, angel halos, a bit of Gandalf wizardry or a \u201cgiant smoking and blowing rings,\u201d as one commenter joked. The series of otherworldly photos Maria Liotta took from her home in Bronte, Sicily, Italy, on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1355],"class_list":["post-5042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-unexplained-aerial-phenomenon-mysterious-rings-above-mount-etna-ignite-speculation-of-an-extraterrestrial-presence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5042"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5045,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5042\/revisions\/5045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ufosecret.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}