The Black Smoke Ring Over Kansas: Omen, Optical Illusion, or Something Stranger?
I love a good mystery, and every once in a while I stumble on one on the interwebs and fall down down down the rabbit hole. Lately, something appeared without warning, hovering above Kansas like a smudge on the sky, a perfectly shaped ring of swirling black smoke.
There was no crash or explosion, and no fire below to create it.
Suddenly, there was just an unbroken circle drifting in the clouds, and then, just as suddenly as it came…it vanished.
The video, captured by eyewitness Frankie Camren, went viral within hours. You can hear the awe in her voice, the fear tickling the edge of her voice alongside the disbelief. A dark halo with no source, no sound, and no explanation…hanging in the air like an unsent message.
And this wasn’t even the first time.
The Shape of a Question
Black smoke rings aren’t new, but they’re rare, super eerie, and hard to ignore.
We’ve seen them before in England in 2017 when a massive ring appeared above Leamington Spa, leaving residents speechless. There was also that time in Virginia, 2024 when a nearly identical ring hovered for minutes before dissipating into thin air. In 2015 in Argentina one floated over the countryside like a portal to another world, and now, Kansas, 2025
Each time, the effect is the same, people stop and stare, they film, then they ask: what the hell is it?
Is it some kind of glitch in the sky, or a military test? A secret message sent by aliens or just…smoke?
The simplest theory floating around out there is that they’re caused by fireworks. Black smoke rings can be caused by large fireworks detonating through a circular blast, or even a transformer explosion. Flaring systems at industrial plants seems to be another theory floating around, and even cannons or fireball shows at theme parks.
The physics behind it is surprisingly elegant because when a sudden burst of heat and pressure pushes soot and smoke out in a toroidal (doughnut) shape, the air vortex stabilizes, forming a black ring that can float for minutes before unraveling.
It’s rare, but not impossible.
So maybe that’s all it is: a well-placed explosion + perfect atmospheric conditions = viral mystery.
But then again…
Okay, so the Kansas ring didn’t come with fireworks or a transformer blast. There also wasn’t a theme park flame cannon around to blame.
It came with silence and no visible source. There wasn’t a celebration or incident to explain it away. And for those who’ve followed this phenomenon for years, it all feels…a bit too precise. It’s too geometric and too perfect to explain away.
So the questions return and we get a little weirder.
A Portal? A Message? Something Watching?
The circular shape…eerily clean…has sparked theories that would make Mulder proud.
A portal opening to another dimension? What about a cloaking field from an advanced aerial vehicle? Someone online said it was a byproduct of anti-gravity propulsion, which I kinda liked the idea of (enough to mention anyway). Others say the aliens left a visual symbol to let us know we’ve been seen.
To UFO enthusiasts, black rings are a sign of “non-ordinary aircraft activity.” The calm and precision, the way they linger before dissolving, it all suggests intentionality but an elegance that we just don’t have.
Could it be that something is experimenting with atmospheric camouflage? Could the ring be residue or the outline of something massive that briefly passed through so fast we didn’t see it? What else leaves behind a shadow without a source?
There’s something ancient about the circle that speaks to the primal parts of our brains. It shows up in nature and in stories all around the world. Crop circles, halos, ouroboros, mandalas, stone circles, rings of mushrooms, the list really goes on and on and if you’ve ever doom-scrolled about mysteries, then you know I’m barely scratching the surface.
In every culture, the ring is sacred and mysterious. A circle is completion and infinity at the same time. Speaking of time, it’s also time folding in on itself. To see a ring hovering in the sky touches something primal that hints, you’re part of a larger pattern.
I theorize that that’s why we react so strongly whenever these rings appear, it’s not just the physics, it’s the symbolism.
We see a ring, and we feel watched.
Want to start capturing strange skies yourself? A good low-light camera for skywatchers, storm chasers, and mystery lovers is ideal for documenting what shouldn’t be there!!
Could It Be Atmospheric Phenomena?
Some scientists offer other theories (I’ll move away from the conspiracies for now for your sake). Thermals colliding with soot or pollen clouds could’ve done this. Microscale vortices triggered by construction sites or industrial events are also a possibility. Condensation ring vortices, similar to those seen in volcanic vents or whale blows is also a thing to keep in mind.
But none of these fully match what people saw in Kansas, of course. The air was calm, the sky was clear, the ring hung too long and was too still.
Even weather experts have said it was “unusual.” So we’re left in limbo, between science and speculation. Cue more of the conspiracy theories (what you didn’t think I was done yet, right?).
A ton of people witnessed or commented on the Kansas ring. Here are some of my favorites:
“I thought it was an eclipse at first. But it wasn’t blocking anything. Just hovering.”
“I got goosebumps. I don’t even believe in UFOs but this felt…off.”
“Looked like something came through it. Like a jet from a different place.”
“It didn’t look like smoke. It looked alive.”
A Pattern of Appearances
The more these rings appear, the more unsettling they become.
They really don’t show up often, but when they do, they tend to occur in calm weather. They’re often near populated areas, but not dense cities and vanish without a trace. These things are also rarely acknowledged by authorities, which might hint toward some sort of government involvement.
It’s as if they’re not trying to hide, but also not trying to explain. At least they didn’t claim it was a weather balloon, am I right? These circles also never leave behind ash or soot or sound which adds to the mystery.
Maybe it was smoke or a failed firework or a distant flare, but it also could’ve been something I haven’t mentioned yet or didn’t even think of at this point.
You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to wonder, you just need to look up and feel that something isn’t adding up.
Even if it’s easily explainable, the Kansas ring does something powerful when it breaks our trust in normalcy.
It reminds us the sky is wide, the world isn’t done surprising us, and that there are still phenomena we don’t have tidy words for. In a world ruled by pixels and notifications, moments like this snap us back into the unknown, which is what I love about it. And that, more than anything, is what lingers.
Other Reads You Might Enjoy:
The Man from Taured: A Time Traveler, a Parallel Universe, or Just a Very Good Lie?
Sprites, Blue Jets, and Elves: The Ghostly Lightshows Above the Storm
