A rare atmospheric phenomenon, a funnel cloud, was seen in the skies over Japan. Such clouds sometimes represent the initial stage of tornado initiation, although they usually dissolve in the atmosphere without causing any harm.
The cloud was filmed over the city of Niigata in the central part of the island of Honshu. Witnesses described the sight as "mesmerizing," according to the Daily Mail.
The footage shows a pale, rotating tube cloud rising up against a backdrop of dark storm clouds. Then it begins to dissolve a little, starting from the lower end, and after a few seconds it completely disappears into the air.
One of the eyewitnesses posted the video on the weathernews website, where it was viewed over 60,000 times in a matter of days and received over 90,000 likes.
Funnel clouds can turn into tornadoes if their bottom edge touches the ground or water. They usually form when a rotating stream of air captures water droplets, forming a kind of tube out of them.