Texans keep reporting clouds as UFOs; more than 56 reports in past month

This photo sent to MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, show what some believe was a UFO over Channelview on May 116, 2015. MUFON says it was a "lenticular" cloud. (Photo: MUFON) This photo sent to MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, show what some believe was a UFO over Channelview on May 116, 2015. MUFON says it was a "lenticular" cloud. (Photo: MUFON) Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close Texans keep reporting clouds as UFOs; more than 56 reports in past month 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

Circular clouds that pop up out of nowhere and disappear just as fast apparently have a lot of people believing in UFOs.

A spate of sightings late last month stirred some alarm -- "Woah! (sic) The sky over Texas appears to be FILLED with UFOs!" someone exclaimed on Twitter -- but reason prevailed as meteorologists and other scientific types debunked the flying saucer theory.

The odd formations are really "lenticular clouds," created when warm humid air is thrust rapidly upward into cooler regions, the meteorologists said. It usually happens when warm air is forced up and over mountains but can also occur in the absence of mountains, commenters said on social media.

Refusing to die, however, the topic returned Thursday with a story on inquisitr.com, about a report filed to MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network.

Filed Wednesday, the report described an incident on May 16 over Channelview in East Harris County.

The person who filed the report did not see the incident himself but submitted it on behalf of friends who wanted to remain anonymous. The report is listed on the MUFON website as No. 66323.

"It looked like a cloud at first, but its appearance was circular and disappeared before there (sic) eyes," the report writer said.

From the report, it's unclear if the attached photos captured the actual sighting or something silimar.

UFO-Shaped Lenticular Clouds Over Texas Spark HAARP Weather Manipulation Conspiracy Theories http://t.co/WqmdinABxA pic.twitter.com/VPNzq4qp5E — #StormHour (@StormHour) May 29, 2015

"I do have a picture that closely resembles what they claim to have seen," the submitter wrote in his report.

Fletcher Gray, MUFON's volunteer chief investigator for Texas, said he was sure the Channelview sighting was a cloud and not a UFO.

"It will be cleared out as a lenticular cloud," Gray said Friday of the Channelview report.

"When we have a low (pressure system) like that, with the upper atmosphere as cold as it was, and with all that hail and rain in the last four to five weeks, you get those strange cloud formations," he said. "Those are common."

In the past month, Gray said he had received 56 reports of possible UFO sightings in Texas. "People think they've got something, and they don't have anything."

Some of the reports are obvious fakes, he said, such as the man who sent a photo of a garbage can lid with green paint on it, trying to pass it off as a UFO.

"You could see the handles on the lid," Gray said.