Local Residents Awed by the Spectacular Purple Smoke Phenomenon in Portland, Maine

For the second day in a row, there has been a bright purple cloud of smoke over parts of Portland, Maine that have left people wondering what it's all about. It looks like something out of a movie as it billows into the sky and drifts to the east over the Maine Turnpike.

Some people think it's the greatest genre reveal, thinking the color is pink for a girl. I see purple, but regardless of whatever color it is, it's a sight you don't often see.

Other than the color, it acts and behaves just like typical smoke you'd see in the sky from time to time, but it's such a vivid purple, that it really gets your attention.

It made me think of this movie scene when I saw it.

So the witch's smoke is a little more red than purple, but you get the idea.

So where is this bright purple smoke coming from?

Chris Sanders provided us with these photos and this one shows the purple smoke rising out of the stack of ecomaine in Portland. You can see their facility just to the west of the Turnpike near the Stroudwater River.

According to their website, "Ecomaine is a non-profit organization, owned by 20 communities that provide long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally responsible, economically sound manner."  In much simpler terms, they recycle what waste they can and find ways to safely dispose of what they can't.

The stack at the plant was spewing out purple (or pink) smoke on Friday for the second day in a row after plant officials had thought they fixed the issue the day before. According to WMTW, the cause of the purple (or pink) color was an excessive amount of iodine in the waste stream.

Hopefully, everything will be back to normal now, but it sure was a colorful show put on in the skies of Portland.