Halo Left in the Sky After Putin’s Visit, Baffling Locals

Jan. 11, 2018

Russian social media users were left stumped by picturesque cloud formations left in the sky over a Russian city after a visit by President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day.

Putin visited a rail car factory in the city of Tver on Wednesday as part of his first 2018 campaign stop. Speculation about the mysterious circles in the sky flooded local news reports and social media discussions.

Anton Pochernikov / Vkontakte

Tatyana Pavlova / Vkontakte

Olga Yegorova / Vkontakte

Alexander Shimchishin / Vkontakte

Kristina Smirnova / Vkontakte

Eyewitnesses described seeing planes circling the skies after the president’s visit, possibly leaving thick trails behind them, the local Karavan.tver.ru news site reported.

Users on the popular Russian Vkontakte social network theorized that the planes may have been left by Putin’s security detail aboard a special mission aircraft.

Others floated the idea that the head of state, who is all but guaranteed re-election on March 18, may have been aboard the aircraft himself.

Regardless of the origin of the circular halo, social media users were quick to share photographs of the unexplained phenomenon.

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