Faux Cumulonimbus or Maybe She Just Needs to Get Her Eyes Checked

My sister-in-law, Jean, flew home last evening after spending the week working in Texas. I saw her around 10 p.m. and she shared a story about her flight. As she was looking out her window on the airplane, she noticed some interesting cloud formations on the horizon. She was fascinated by the way the clouds swirled and churned, billowing one above the other into layers. She wondered what type of clouds they were, assuming that Adam would be able to identify them if he were there. She spent a long time enjoying a splendor seen only by those fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. As the plane progressed along, however, something gradually became evident to Jean. The stunning clouds that had appeared so remarkable minutes before turned out to be some sort of smoggy vapor rising from two smokestacks off in the distance. So much for the beauty of nature.