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Radar is quite possibly the most sophisticated piece of technology ever discovered, and it's something that isn't even that new! Radar was originally conceived way back in the late 19th Century, but wasn't until the Second World War where it became much more utilized. And over 80 years later, this technology is still helping us detect things in the air, especially for Meteorologists.
Radar data is also not just limited to the military and meteorologists, but almost everyone has access to it on their smartphones. We've all been accustomed to the different colors on radar, with ‘warmer’ colors like yellow and red indicating heavier precipitation. However, what happens when the radar shows things popping up with no precipitation falling? Is it aliens? A government conspiracy? Or maybe something less sinister. These are things meteorologists run into on daily basis because weather radar is so sensitive that it can detect almost anything in the air!
Below, we've listed some of the most common radar anomalies that you can see on the radar across the U.S.
Yes, you read that correctly. The pulses of energy emitted by weather radar are so sensitive that even tiny objects like dust particles and insects can produce detectable returns on the radar! While these signals may seem like unwanted noise to most, they actually do provide some meteorological insights with valuable information.
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For example, winds associated with a sea breeze or a thunderstorm outflow boundary can have concentrated dust, insects, or other small particles along the leading edge of advancing air. On radar, this often materializes as a thin line or bowing arc moving across the screen. By tracking these features, meteorologists can pinpoint the location and movement of boundaries such as gust fronts and sea breezes, even when no precipitation is falling.
As we discussed, weather radar can detect tiny particles like dust and insects, so it comes as no surprise that it also can detect smoke. Large fires, which include wildfires and structure fires, can snd huge plumes of smoke into the air that can not only be seen for miles on the ground, but also by the radar! The radar beam hits the large concentration of smoke in the air and produces a visible plume on the screen. To the untrained eye, this could almost appear like precipitation falling, especially if the fire is large and producing a ton of smoke. You can see a plume of smoke that developed
Not only can you see smoke plumes from fires, but also rocket launches! The most recent example is seen on the animated image to the right, which shows some exhuast being caught by radar of the Artemis II launch on April 1, 2026.
Another interesting anomaly that you can detect from radar are known as "Roost rings. Despite their unusual appearance, it isn't a radar glitch or a sudden explosion, or even evidence of extra terrestrials! Instead, these are expanding rings that are created when thousand of migratory birds talk flight all at the same time from their roosting locations.
On radar, these roost rings occur right at the crack of dawn and can be made more readily evident when a temperature inversion is present. This allows the beam to stay low to the ground and pick up on the bird's flight pattern. The are typically seen in the late Summer and early Fall months, when conditions allow for them to be seen more easily. They are nothing dangerous, but just the radar doing what it's supposed to!
Another radar oddity can occur twice a day: during sunrise or sunset. These are known as sun spikes and can truly look like the radar had a glitch or were seriously damaged. They occur when the radar's antenna briefly points directly toward the sun while it is low on the horizon. The sun emits electromagnetic radiation across a wide range of wavelengths, which includes energy that can be detected by radar itself. The result is a very narrow streak/spike that extends out from the radar's center.
Last but not least, radar can detect airplanes. This seems quite obvious, especially if you're a flight traffic controller at the airport, since they utilize radar in order to detect incoming and outgoing flights and keep them in safe distance from one another. Planes also have onboard radar to detect other planes in the area as well. However, even weather radars can detect planes!
The animated image above shows a local tower radar, which are smaller ones that are situated at airports. These are really good at picking up lower level anomalies, since their beams do not extend as far as their Doppler counterparts. It may be a bit hard to see, but in the circled red areas, you can see a few pixels that are slowly moving north. These are in fact echoes of planes being detected as they get lower in height, allowing the radar beam to intersect it. Like roost rings, these are easier to see right in the morning and especially with no precipitation around.
