Iridescent clouds appeared in the sky of Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday afternoon, prompting many to share images of the phenomenon online, playfully dubbing it ‘Aurora borealis in Saigon.’ 

Saigon is the old name of the city but it is still in popular use.

The magnificent clouds emerged between 3:30 pm and 4:20 pm.

The phenomenon is called cloud iridescence or irisation, a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in clouds and appears in the general proximity of the sun or moon.

This occurs when water droplets or ice crystals in the cloud diffract the light around the outside of the droplet, as opposed to bending the light through it.

The clouds featured blue, red, yellow, pink, and purple colors mingled together, forming a stunning scene.

The clouds looked like silk bands hung in the air.

Many people uploaded photos of the phenomenon to social media while expressing their excitement.

Hoang, a resident in Thu Duc City, said he saw the iridescent clouds when he unintentionally looked at the sky. The clouds were like a rainbow but with a bright halo.

Huynh Phu Vinh, another local resident, shared that he was in Go Vap District when spotting the phenomenon. There were many strange clouds with outstandingly beautiful colors in the sky.

He immediately took photos of the clouds and shared them with his friends.

These clouds changed their shapes and colors within 20 minutes before disappearing, Vinh noted.

Plenty of netizens have shared photos of the cloud iridescence in Ho Chi Minh City on Facebook.

According to meteorological experts, the phenomenon is not very rare. 

Le Thi Xuan Lan, former deputy head of the forecasting department under the Southern Region Hydro-meteorological Station, likened cloud iridescence to a rainbow.

Such clouds are signs of thunderstorms and rain, Lan added.

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