Iridescent clouds increasing in frequency: what does it mean?

As a passionate timelapse photographer I have been observing cloud patterns for over 20 years, yet only in the last year, since moving to France from Indonesia, have I seen iridescent clouds. In the last few months I have been seeing them regularly. At one point it was every day, though the colours were not as pronounced as the above image which I captured last week.

First spotted in the 1990s these 'rainbow clouds' are said to be the result of ice crystals in the air.

This is what Wiki has to say about the word iridescence:

Iridescent clouds:

This week I have spotted them three times and unlike previous weeks I have managed to photograph them. No effects have been added to any of my images:

Shot from our courtyard looking up towards the sun.

Two days earlier I shot this one in a totally different part of the sky at a different time of day, also from our courtyard.

The iridescent colouring is unmistakable.

The third sighting this week was moments ago, during the writing of this post. Again in a totally different part of the sky, at a different time of day. It is not so obvious as the previous shots, but the rainbow effect is just visible above the chimneys.

The conspiracy

You knew I couldn't let this one go without the conspiracy connection right!

So, here is my problem:

Colour photography was invented in 1907 yet the first iridescent clouds were not photographed until the 1990s. Up until ten years ago this phenomenon was considered rare, yet today Wiki describe it as "fairly common".

In this 2013 article from National Geographic entitled "A Rare Look at an Iridescent Cloud" they state:

they're not spotted often, and are even less frequently photographed. National Geographic

On YouTube the earliest film I could find of iridescent clouds was shot in 2009:

The amount of people capturing them is on the rise, with more films uploaded last year than all the previous years put together.

What does this tell you?

The above evidence points towards the probability that iridescent clouds did not exist thirty years ago and since their appearance they have been increasing in frequency.

If indeed they are there because of ice crystals in the air we can safely assume the air above us is getting colder. Which is not at all in line with the global warming narrative.

For those of you who missed it, I wrote an extensive article last week describing why I believe we are moving into an ice age. So this latest observation seems at the very least to confirm there are more ice crystals in the air now than there use to be. Read into this how you wish.

There are some who claim a connection between chemtrails and the increase in iridescent clouds, likening the colours to those we see reflecting out of oil based products.

Personally I struggle to make this particular connection and colder air temperature is my top choice... for now.

What are your thoughts on this?

Does anyone remember seeing iridescent clouds a long time ago?

Who is @samstonehill?