海角大神

Costa Ricans were awestruck earlier this week, when a strange, multi-colored cloud appeared in the sky over Escazu.

The rainbow-like cloud inspired amazement in residents 鈥� with one observer proclaiming that the weird formation signaled the end of the world, the Washington Post reports.

鈥淭he skies opened up as if it were the end of times,鈥� Jessie Montealegre who recorded the rare sky event wrote on Youtube.

鈥淪uddenly a massive amount of people stopped and stood still as they were astonished at how the skies opened up. It was a nice coincidence that the video was taken on Costa Rica's Independence Day,"聽Montealegre said.聽

But among atmospheric scientists, there's no mystery here 鈥� and certainly no dire prognostication.

The striking phenomenon is scientifically known as cloud iridescence. After a similar iridescent cloud appeared over Boulder, Colo., in 2007, NASA explained the science behind the meteorlogical event:

鈥淭hese clouds are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When the Sun is in the right position and mostly hidden by thick clouds, these thinner clouds significantly diffract sunlight in a nearly coherent manner, with different colors being deflected by different amounts. Therefore, different colors will come to the observer from slightly different directions.鈥�

Angela Fritz further explains this cloud formation in the Washington Post,

This week鈥檚 phenomenon, was visible in skies over a number of cities in Costa Rica, including San Jose, Parrita, Pavas, Escazu and Hatillo, according to ABC News.聽

Iridescence is just one of many optical phenomena that exists when the sunlight interacts with clouds. Earlier this summer, western Wisconsin residents were dazzled, when a rare, rainbow-like cloud occurred across the sky.

Colloquially referred to as a fire rainbow, the optical phenomenon聽is neither a fire nor a rainbow. It occurs when sunlight refracts through plate-shaped ice crystals, according to weather.com.