Can anyone explain "rainbow" clouds?

Question

Yesterday I saw a cloud which had a pale blue irridescent glow to it. I was sober and I was not alone.

This occurred just a couple miles east of Lake Michigan.

Can anybody explain this?

Answer 1

I think it's science

Answer 2

Pantagruel is correct.  In rare occassions, you can have the perfect combination of cirrus clouds which are ice crystals high up in the atmosphere and the sunlight at just the right angle (greater than 58 degrees) at which to create a phenomenon known as the rainbow cloud.

I think it is one of the rarest sights in all of weather phenomena.

Answer 3

Yes it has a scientific explanation.  It is caused by moisture in the upper atmosphere that has frozen into tiny ice crystals  When the sun hits them just right, you see a refraction of the light as it passes through the ice.  That appears as a 'rainbow' color.