International Registry of Clouds That Look Like Things

The International Registry of Clouds That Look Like Things (IRCLT, French: Registre international des nuages ressemblant à des choses, RINRC) is an intergovernmental advisory body headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, tasked with the official cataloguing, verification, and certification of cloud formations that bear a recognisable resemblance to terrestrial objects, persons, animals, or abstract concepts. Established in 1953 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the IRCLT maintains observer status within the UN system and operates the world's only legally recognised archive of pareidolic atmospheric phenomena.^[1] As of December 2024, the Registry has certified 11,467 cloud formations across 94 member states.

History

Founding

The Registry owes its existence to Prof. Marcel Devroede (1891–1968), a retired Belgian meteorologist and amateur ornithologist who, on the afternoon of 3 April 1951, observed a cumulus congestus formation above the town of Dinant that he described in his diary as "an unmistakable canard, wings outstretched, bill pointing toward Namur." Devroede spent the following eighteen months photographing similar formations and corresponding with meteorological societies across Europe, eventually compiling a dossier of 342 verified sightings which he presented to the World Meteorological Organization in March 1953.

The WMO, uncertain how to classify the submission, referred the matter to ECOSOC, which established the IRCLT by Resolution 481(XV) on 17 June 1953. Devroede was appointed its first Director and served until his death in 1968. The organisation's founding charter states that its mission is "to preserve, for the benefit of all humanity, a faithful record of those moments in which the atmosphere appears to communicate with the terrestrial imagination."

Growth and institutionalisation

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the IRCLT expanded its network of volunteer assessors — known formally as Certified Pareidolic Observers (CPOs) — from an initial cohort of 12 to over 200 by 1979. The introduction of standardised photographic submission protocols in 1971 (codified as IRCLT Technical Standard 7.3) marked a turning point in the organisation's credibility. Prior to this, submissions had occasionally included hand-drawn sketches, watercolour paintings, and in one notable case from 1962, a clay model.^[2]

Certification process

The IRCLT operates a rigorous 14-step certification process for all submitted cloud formations, widely considered among the most demanding verification procedures in international civil service. The principal stages are as follows:

1. Submission — The observer uploads photographic evidence, GPS coordinates, timestamp, and a written description of the perceived resemblance to the IRCLT Portal (since 2012; previously by registered post).
2. Preliminary Screening — A staff meteorologist confirms the formation is a genuine cloud and not, as has occurred, a photograph of cotton wool, smoke, or steam from a power plant.
3. Independent Triple-Blind Assessment — Three CPOs from different member states independently review the submission without knowledge of the claimed resemblance. Each assessor records what, if anything, the cloud appears to depict.
4. Concordance Evaluation — If at least two of three assessors independently identify the same object (within a defined semantic tolerance of ±1.5 on the Devroede Resemblance Scale), the submission advances to the Certification Panel.
5. Panel Review and Vote — A five-member panel reviews the full dossier. Certification requires a four-fifths supermajority.

The median processing time from submission to decision is 9.4 months. The overall certification rate stands at approximately 6.2%, a figure the Registry attributes to its commitment to scientific rigour and which its critics attribute to institutional stubbornness.^[3]

The Devroede Resemblance Scale

Central to the assessment process is the Devroede Resemblance Scale (DRS), a proprietary 10-point metric developed in 1955 and revised in 1988. The scale ranges from DRS 0 ("no discernible resemblance to any known object") to DRS 10 ("photographic likeness; indistinguishable from the object itself at distance"). A minimum score of DRS 6.5 is required for certification. The all-time highest-scoring formation — a cumulonimbus over Reykjavik in 1997 that unanimously resembled a Dachshund — received a DRS 9.7.

Controversies

The 2007 Lincoln rejection

In August 2007, amateur photographer Dale Horvath of Topeka, Kansas submitted a photograph of an altocumulus formation which he and numerous media outlets described as bearing a striking resemblance to Abraham Lincoln. The image went viral, appearing on CNN, the BBC, and the front page of USA Today. The IRCLT received over 14,000 emails urging immediate certification.

However, the triple-blind assessment yielded divergent results: one assessor identified Lincoln, a second identified the composer Franz Liszt, and a third recorded "a bearded man, possibly a sea captain." The concordance threshold was not met. The Certification Panel voted 3–2 to reject the submission in February 2008, provoking a diplomatic incident when the United States' permanent representative to the UN in Geneva issued a formal note of displeasure. The IRCLT's Director at the time, Dr. Claudette Moreaux, responded with what became known as the Moreaux Memorandum:

The atmosphere does not recognise national borders, nor does it owe allegiance to any nation's historical figures. A cloud is certified on the basis of universal perceptual consensus, not patriotic sentiment.— Dr. Claudette Moreaux, Director-General of the IRCLT, 14 February 2008

Most certified cloud shapes by decade

The Registry publishes decadal statistics on the most frequently certified resemblance categories. Analysts have noted shifts in certification patterns that broadly mirror prevailing cultural preoccupations.

Annual awards ceremony

Each November, the IRCLT hosts the Devroede Prize Ceremony at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, recognising the year's most exceptional certified formations. The principal categories are:

• The Grand Devroede — Highest DRS score of the year
• Prix de la Durée — Longest-lasting certified formation (minimum 4 minutes continuous resemblance)
• Observer of the Year — Most successful CPO by certification count
• The People's Cumulus — Winner of a public online vote (introduced 2016, suspended 2021 after vote-rigging allegations involving a cloud resembling a popular K-pop idol)
• Lifetime Achievement — For sustained contributions to pareidolic observation

Attendance at the ceremony has declined from a peak of 340 guests in 2011 to approximately 85 in 2023. The 2020 and 2021 ceremonies were held via video conference, an arrangement the Registry's annual report described as "meteorologically appropriate but interpersonally unsatisfying."

Budget crisis and uncertain future

Since 2018, the IRCLT has faced mounting financial pressure. Member state contributions have declined by 34% in real terms over the past six years, with several nations — including the United States, which never fully resumed contributions after the Lincoln incident — reducing or eliminating their annual payments. The Registry's 2024 operating budget of CHF 1.2 million is the lowest in inflation-adjusted terms since 1971.

A 2023 independent review commissioned by ECOSOC recommended either merging the IRCLT into the WMO or dissolving it entirely. The report noted that the Registry's core function could be replicated by "a moderately well-trained image recognition algorithm operating at negligible cost." Current Director Dr. Yuki Tanabe responded that automated systems fundamentally lack the capacity for genuine pareidolic experience, stating: "A machine can identify a pattern. Only a human can see a duck."^[4]

See also

Pareidolia · Cloud Appreciation Society · World Meteorological Organization · International Cloud Atlas

References