Natural or Man-Made? Giant Mushroom Cloud Appears Over Beijing

A couple days after residents in central Chinese provinces received warnings they should stay inside due a mysterious yellow-grey haze, a giant mushroom shaped cloud has also been spotted in the sky over Beijing.

(Related: Is this mysterious, yellow haze in China really from burning straw?)

Officials said last week the haze was the result of burning straw -- an illegal but still practiced activity. The June 14 cloud on the other hand is reported to be a natural phenomenon created by clouds typically associated with thunderstorms.

Here are a few photos of the cloud from China Daily:

This video on YouTube is allegedly of the cloud as well:

Let's hope the explanation suffices. That's because some citizens of the Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces witnessing the haze (not the cloud) criticized the government's explanation and two were arrested for spreading rumors the haze was the result of a chemical plant malfunction.

(H/T: Inquistr)