Vortex

[Voyageur]

Posting here only because as much as it seems logical to explain, the event today was never experienced to the degree in which it was noted and as such is unexplained.

Visited my mother today and we were outside talking about planting her garden when we heard this loud snapping sound and a whooshing. Across the street and between two houses there was a simple large black plastic garbage bag that suddenly shot airborne. The bag fluttered and rippled in whatever wind was there, circling as if caught in a vortices, which it was it seemed. However, like any event i’ve ever noticed of this kind, wind devils and such, the bag lifted into the sky and did not stop, almost like a string was pulling it aloft - inverted kite string. We both were stunned from this sight as it climbed 1,000 ft, if a foot, and kept on going. We watched and snapped a photo as it rose into the cloud ceiling a few thousand feet above and disappeared.

Seems fairly innocuous, straight forward perhaps; happens all the time sort of thing. But have never seeing anything happen that fast and at such great distances before without coming down – garbage bags in the sky we both said aloud, thinking that any observer would think it just a bird.

See little black dot.

 

[Al Today]

First thing that came to mind are the stories of raining frogs, fish or something unusual. Perhaps you witnessed a/the phenomena that 'sucks' living things into the skies and drops them back down like "rain".

 

[Voyageur]

First thing that came to mind are the stories of raining frogs, fish or something unusual. Perhaps you witnessed a/the phenomena that 'sucks' living things into the skies and drops them back down like "rain".

Yes perhaps this was the dynamic you mentioned; it seemed it was a powerful force, yet extremely isolated. In the end it was just a light weight object, but the speed and the altitude it gained was an odd thing to see.

 

[Lilou]

So that means it may one day rain plastic? We're already living in a sea of plastic. In the middle east, a common joke is that the national flag should be "kees aswad" which translates - plastic bag, black. They are a common fixture in the open air.

But the speed that your bag ascended, wow! The forces of nature are amazing.

 

[mkrnhr]

Have seen that before, and flying plastic bags at those altitudes is very common. These mini-vortices are visible when there is dust or sand but usually you just see their foot. In some places you can see plastic bag cyclones, very ugly view. Ascending air has nothing uncommon, that's what big birds and delta-planes use in the mountain. Very common then.

 

[Third_Density_Resident]

When you get localized thermals (that is, an upward current of air which is warmer than its surroundings, and so has buoyancy), it is quite common for light objects such as plastic bags to get lifted very high into the air, while nothing else nearby is lifted at all. I've witnessed it several times. The effect is even more marked when the plastic bag gets warm air inside it, acting like a hot-air balloon.

 

[brandon]

I had something like this happen once, with a paper aeroplane, when I was at school.. I threw it, it flew for a bit then somehow started going higher and higher, in a gentle fashion, til I could barely see it.. eventually it flew away from the school grounds and I never saw it come down.. Tried to make that happen again lots of times but it never did :)