A SPECTACULAR cloud formation captured during a flight over the Great Australian Bight has delighted weather enthusiasts and enraged conspiracy theorists.

    Virgin Australia posted photos of the clouds to Facebook, which were taken by a passenger during a Perth-to-Adelaide flight.

    The images were shared with a caption saying: “Flying above the clouds has never looked this good.” Some social media users appreciated the natural phenomenon, sharing the post close to 3,000 times.

    Neil Bennet, from the WA Bureau of Metereology said the clouds were wave clouds, caused when air hit an obstruction such as a mountain, forcing the air over it. “It’s like skipping a stone across water,” he said.

    “The wave clouds are caused by air being forced up over a range of hills and performing a wave like motion until it settles down, which causes the gaps.”

    “The air goes up, cools, then bounces back up again.”

    Conspiracy theorists however accused the airline of being involved with chemtrails, a theory which suggests aeroplanes leave chemical trails in the air.

    Bennett dismissed claims the aircraft caused them, particularly as the plane was moving across the clouds and there would have had to be multiple aircraft flying in a very tight formation to achieve the number of rows.

    (SD-Agencies)