New Zealand Pilot Wows With 'Stunning Shot' of Lenticular Cloud

Even the experts at the New Zealand Met Service were left “gasping” at a pilot’s stunning shot of a lenticular cloud over the South Island at the weekend.

Posting the photo to Twitter late on August 29, Geoffrey Beckett said that in “20 years flying,” this was “the most impressive cloud” he’d even seen.

Beckett also shot video from the cockpit of his ATR 72-600. He told Storyful the plane was at 18,000 feet, and flying south from Christchurch to Invercargill. He said the strong winds at that altitude came from “a direction which was perfect for the formation of this lenticular cloud.”

He said the cloud would have been too dangerous to fly through, so diverted around it, which gave him “the perfect picture.” Credit: Geoffrey Beckett via Storyful