So reindeer really can fly through the clouds

Alan Blacklock, a photographer with the New Zealand Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, was certainly surprised when he looked into the afternoon sky from his home in the capital city, Wellington.

'It was Sunday afternoon and my attention was drawn to this cloud,' he said.



'It wasn't a great leap of the imagination to see a reindeer.'

The picture, taken on Dec 2, is of a cirrus cloud, which takes shape at about 30,000ft.