TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Residents were astonished to see a "solar halo" appear in the skies over eastern Taiwan's Taitung County on Sunday (April 28), and quickly took to social media to share photos of the unusual phenomenon.

A Taitung resident surnamed Yang (楊) told UDN that he first spotted the "halo" around the sun at 8 a.m. and the strange ring lasted until 2 p.m. Many residents soon rushed out to observe it and by 11 a.m., Facebook was being flooded with images of the unusual occurrence.

The Taitung Weather Station said that a "halo" is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that can occur around the sun or moon and is visible as a wheel of light. These halos are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high overhead.

Solar halo seen over Taitung. (CNA photo)

The weather station said that these halos show that water vapor at a high altitude is relatively abundant and the range is large and uniform. This phenomenon most frequently occurs in the spring and summer, according to the station.

An old Taiwanese folk proverb states that the "When there is a halo around the sun, rain will fall on midnight the next evening. When there is a halo around the moon, wind will begin to blow at noon the next day." However, the weather station said that there was no scientific basis for this folk proverb.

Photo by Instagram user @lanwenching.

Photo by Instagram user @wy_chia.

Photo by Instagram user @mar824_555.