Palm Sunday

KVPR, A palm husk was mysteriously floating over a Fresno street. We asked a meteorologist about it.

FRESNO, Calif. – A palm husk. Around six feet long. Floating in mid-air.

That is what Fresno council member Luis Chavez stumbled upon during a walk canvassing for votes as part of his campaign for county supervisor. Chavez caught the mysterious floating husk on video, during a break in the rain. It looked like magic. “I’ve seen some really creepy stuff, but nothing like this,” he said, walking all the way around the floating husk to show that there were no wires or hidden structures holding it up over the damp road.

KVPR asked meteorologist Victor Proton at the National Weather Service office in Hanford how this could happen. Proton was also surprised. “I’ve seen two-by-fours from tornadoes in the sides of houses, straws stuck in car tires from tornadoes,” he said. But a piece of a tree hovering above the ground? “That’s a new one on me,” he said.

Proton also said there’s a likely explanation. It’s not witchcraft or a glitch in the matrix – despite what many commented on social media – but a weather phenomenon we’re more accustomed to seeing during dry weather. “It’s the same process as a dust devil, we were just missing the dust,” he said.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Country Girls up on time at The Other McCain.