The strange radar image, which resembled a line of heavy rain, appeared suddenly Monday night, spreading slowly from north to south across western Kentucky and southern Illinois. Some took to social media, putting in their best guesses as to what exactly caused the phenomenon on a cold, clear evening with no apparent rain in the area.
Meteorologist Derrick Snyder said that while there has been no official statement released by the government, it was almost certainly something known as "chaff" released during a military exercise.
"Our best guess right now, is that we think it was a release of what's called chaff. It's thin strands of aluminum that sometimes military planes will spread as a way to scatter the radar to kind of conceal aircraft," Snyder said.
Snyder added that it's not uncommon to see this kind of radar picture in other parts of the country, where those types of military activities are more common.
"It's more common in certain parts of the country. In Key West, they see this on radar on an almost weekly basis. Around here it's much more uncommon," he said.
Media reports indicate that air traffic control in Evansville, Indiana claimed a military C-130 plane did release chaff northwest of the city around the same time the radar anomaly appeared.
On the Net:
NWS Paducah video of radar
