"I was sitting in the middle of a 10-mile-wide stadium of the gods." Footage inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa reveals ominous 'stadium effect' in real time: 'It was mesmerizing and heart-sinking' first appeared on The Cool Down.

The Hunters wrote on social media Tuesday that they were forced to turn back from another mission into the eye of Melissa due to “heavy turbulence.”

Carried out on October 27, by the elite 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (WRS), also known as the “Hurricane Hunters”, the mission offered a rare glimpse into the core of what scientists have called the world’s strongest storm of 2025.

Melissa is forecast to become the first Category 5 landfall in the Atlantic Basin since Dorian roared into the Bahamas in 2019. There have been 32 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since the use of satellites began in 1966, with 13 of those having formed in the past nine years.