Weird Weather

The same goes for much larger waterspouts over the sea. These are huge vortices of seawater spiralling up into stormy clouds above, and you can see why ancient mariners talked about monsters from the deep. Who knows, they might even explain the mystery of the Marie Celeste's vanished crew, perhaps so terrified by the sight of a sea monster they jumped overboard.

Today, we're more intrigued by crop circles and although most of these are clearly hoaxes, some may be caused by freak weather. One theory is that small, gently spinning vortices can form in the lee of hills and it's quite possible that when they break down they could make flatten crops into circles, particularly on sloping fields. In fact, old woodcuts show crop circles formed by the devil, so these aren't a modern phenomenon by any means.

Seriously Weird Weather

In short, the weather is a lot more weird than we give it credit for. And if we took these fabulous displays more seriously we might get a deeper insight into many other mysteries of the world.

For more information:

Watch 'Storm Chasers: Fury in the Skies' TV documentary
http://www.firstscience.com/home/firstscience.tv/stormchasers-fury-in-the-skies_8.html

Watch  'Storm Chasers: Fury in the Plains' TV documentary
http://www.firstscience.com/home/firstscience.tv/storm-chasers-fury-on-the-plains_9.html

Watch 'Oaklahoma Fury' TV documentary
http://www.firstscience.com/home/firstscience.tv/oklahoma-fury_12.html

Watch 'When Nature Strikes Back: Chasing Killer Storms' TV documentary
http://www.firstscience.com/home/firstscience.tv/when-nature-strikes-back-chasing-killer-storms_16.html