'Thought I Was Hallucinating': Iridescent Clouds Seen Over Austrian Alps

Iridescent clouds made for a breathtaking view when they were spotted in the sky over a lake in the Austrian Alps. Photographer Javier Darnaude said he https://www.instagram.com/p/C9UTVLxsHuL/ thought he was hallucinating when he saw the rainbow-colored clouds. "I was hiking in the Austrian Alps when I looked up at the sky and saw some very rare clouds," Darnaude told Storyful. "As a colorblind person, I thought the rarity might just have been my perception, but I didn't hesitate to film the footage to confirm it later." Rainbow clouds, also known as nacreous or iridescent clouds, happen because of diffraction - a phenomenon in which small water droplets or small ice crystals scatter the sun's light, according to the https://scijinks.gov/rainbow-clouds/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) . (Footage by Javier Darnaude/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)