Mount Ararat is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey.
The volcano consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat, the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 16,854 ft; and Little Ararat, with an elevation of 12,782 ft.
The volcano is covered by a lenticular cloud – stationary lens-shaped clouds that form in the troposphere.
Lenticular clouds such as these usually form when there are strong winds blowing at high altitudes, and as moist air is forced to go up and over mountains.
As the air rises in this way, which is known as orographic lifting, it is forced to cool and condense into clouds. Such clouds are then shaped by the strong winds and contorted by the mountain-induced wave in the airflow.
Because of their shape, they have been offered as an explanation for some unidentified flying object sightings.
They often remind people of alien spaceships forming around the volcanoes.