Watch: Origins of black ring in the sky over Virginia a mystery

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Several Virginia residents captured video when a mysterious black ring was seen floating in the sky over the Williamsburg area.

Multiple witnesses in the Hampton Roads region reported seeing the black ring in the sky shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, and multiple people captured photos and videos of the unusual phenomenon.

The ring vanished within a few minutes.

Seemingly similar blacks rings have been spotted in other locations in the past , with fires and explosions being cited as the likely cause.

The James City County Fire Department said it was unaware of any reports of incidents that could have caused the ring at the time of the sightings.

Ricky Mathews, a meteorologist for WAVY-TV , said the cause was likely pyrotechnics or similar incident of concentrated fire causing a smoke ring to rise. Fellow meteorologist Steve Fundaro hypothesized it might have resulted from an industrial process.