Volcano Coaster Produces UFO & Garners National Attention
I’m a little late on this one, but recently a UFO was spotted hovering over Kings Dominion near Doswell (rhymes with Roswell), Virginia. The ring shaped figure hovered over the park for about ten minutes. The UFO sighting received national attention and it was even featured on CNN. The park and many regulars to the park have explained the phenomenon as a ring of smoke produced by the frequent Volcano: The Blast Coaster eruptions.
I can vaguely recall a brief ring of smoke rising from the Volcano after the fiery eruptions. But it was always really short lived. I guess when the atmospheric conditions are just right, the ring can remain intact. The UFO was seen for a full ten minutes causing park guests to marvel at the strange sight.
Well, the mystery’s been solved, but judging from the local and national attention you google ‘kings dominion ufo’ this was a hot topic for a day or so. Check out the footage that made its way to CNN:
Volcano: The Blast Coaster Review
Volcano’s a great coaster. It’s an inverted launch coaster sending riders up and out of the mouth of a ‘live’ volcano. I gave it an 8.5 (Great) out of 10. Check out my full Volcano: The Blast Coaster review including an on-ride video.
What’s Your Take?
Were you there when the object was floating over the park? Have you seen this ring of smoke hovering over Kings Dominion? Leave a comment below. Image courtesy of CoasterImage.
June 22, 2009 at 11:46
Cool! That is a very well defined ring and it lasted a long time. If you look at it closely, it almost seems to define a transparent disk. I guess the varying thickness of the ring gives a three dimensional effect.
June 22, 2009 at 20:20
You're right is very well defined alright. I've been at that park many times and I grew up going there. I never remember seeing the ring of smoke stay together THAT long, but I guess the conditions were just right. It's really odd.
June 23, 2009 at 03:18
This is possible because physically, air behaves basically like a liquid that can easily be compressed and that has an internal friction of practically zero. okay, its not a liquid, its a gas, i know, but its the same mathematics. the result is that vortexes or air turbulence can theoretically survive forever, and because energy is stored inside vortexes like this smoke ring, they are doomed to continued existence due to conservation of energy if left undisturbed. ive seen experiments were smoke rings were caused by hitting a drum-like device really hard with a hammer, the resulting smoke rings can move very large distances and still tip over paper bags or blow out candles or even hurt you. without friction, where is the energy in the vortex supposed to go? if it stays stable, it will just continue to move on. just like turbolences from distant thunderstorms (far above or far below) hitting airplanes and giving them a decent shaking while the air in the immediate surroundings appear totally calm. airplanes themselves create vortexes that will ultimately hit the ground, no matter at which altitude the airplane is flying.
its just physics, follows from the laws of nature, can be fully explained, understood and reproduced, and this knowledge is also heavily applied, nonlinear sound transmission through air would be an example.
June 28, 2009 at 12:32
you know i think this park is making a big deal out of this. If it was a ufo than it was a ufo. People shouldnt go crazy over this. Personally this is silly
June 29, 2009 at 15:19
MATTHEW…YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. IT IS SILLY. I'M CERTAIN THE ET WAS 'CLOAKING' ITSELF BUT THE RING WAS VISIBLE DUE TO THE INCLEMENT WEATHER. ET'S AND THEIR CRAFT SOMETIMES 'DROP BY' OUT OF CURIOSITY AND SIMPLY WANTED TO SEE THE 'DROP ZONE' RIDE FOR BRIEF AMUSEMENT. ODD,,,ISN'T IT THAT BOTH RINGS ARE SO SIMILAR???
June 29, 2009 at 16:19
retard
June 29, 2009 at 16:20
??? and i have no idea what you just said
June 29, 2009 at 16:20
haha man im just kidding haha
August 22, 2009 at 13:24
COOL!
August 28, 2009 at 06:31
The same exact effect (smoke ring) occurred at Six Flags Great Adventure last night just over El Toro. Weather conditions were similar and the ring looked exactly the same as the smoke ring in the video from Kings Dominion. It too, lasted about 10 minutes, slowly drifting across the sky.
GA's Bizarro ride, which is near El Toro, has two flame throwers that are very similar to the flames that shoot out of the top of Volcano. At least now, I know that I (and the others who also saw it) were not going crazy and it was not some strange aircraft from nearby MacGuire Air Force Base.
June 30, 2010 at 10:17
when i first went to KD my brother and i were in line and saw a similar ring. i asked what it was, and he said it's a smoke ring, and he pointed to the fire that had just burst out.
February 28, 2011 at 11:41
For a number of years I went to Kings Dominion every summer, and actually saw a few rings a day pretty similar to that (mainly at the concert pavilion tucked near the parking lot). None stayed in one spot that long, but we saw rings that floated around for 5 minutes or so every year.
July 5, 2011 at 13:25
Wow people thought a smoke ring was a UFO? I saw volcano fire go off and then one of these smoke rings as well. It probrably is a normal occurence. Plus how is something clear with smoke edges around it floating in air a UFO? Maybe for a second it looked like one but after a few moments people should be able to figure out that it is just smoke. However, Kings Dominion got a lot of attention which is good for the park(although they have tons of visitors anyway).