Residents of Millbrook County are demanding an investigation after a cumulus cloud spotted Tuesday afternoon bore what witnesses describe as an ‘uncanny and frankly lazy’ resemblance to a cloud seen the previous day. The controversy has split the town’s amateur meteorology community, with some calling it plagiarism and others insisting clouds have always looked kind of the same.
‘I’ve been photographing skies for eleven years, and I know a rip-off when I see one,’ said local sky-watcher Denise Pruitt, holding up two nearly identical photos of fluffy white blobs. ‘Yesterday’s cloud had a certain je ne sais quoi. Today’s cloud just phoned it in. It’s giving me real ‘straight-to-DVD sequel’ energy.’
The National Weather Service has declined to comment on allegations of cloud impropriety, though a spokesperson noted that water vapor ‘does not currently have the legal capacity to be sued.’ Meanwhile, the town council has proposed a ‘Cloud Originality Ordinance’ requiring all future cumulus formations to register their shape with a newly formed three-person committee before drifting over county lines.
Local weatherman Chip Anders, who has covered the region’s skies for two decades, urged calm. ‘Look, I get it, people want their weather to feel fresh and exciting. But at the end of the day, it’s condensed water molecules doing their best. Cut them some slack,’ he said, before admitting he too felt ‘a little betrayed’ by Tuesday’s forecast, which he called ‘basically a rerun.’
As of press time, the offending cloud had drifted eastward, evaporated, and reformed elsewhere in a shape residents are already calling ‘suspiciously similar to a bunny, which, frankly, has also been done before.’
