As the plane descended, an otherwise drab deck of ragged stratocumulus took on this optical glory, which of course followed the apparently expanding shadow of the Boeing 737 all the way into the top of the cloud layer. One of the best ways to see a glory is from an aircraft overflying liquid-water clouds. Uniformly sized cloud droplets backscatter sulight, in a process loosely akin to the visualization of a rainbow (but with far smaller water particles). When observing a true glory, your eyes always will lie on a straight line between its middle and the sun behind you. Put another way: when on a high bridge, skyscraper, airplane or mountain above clouds, look directly opposite the sun to spot any glory that might appear.