This is the spooky moment a submarine-shaped cloud is claimed to have appeared off the coast of Indonesia.

The bizarre formation is said to have been seen four days after an Indonesian Navy submarine that sank was found split into three pieces on the sea bed in Bali on April 25.

Resident Arik Andrawan claimed he saw the clouds after he visited the beach with a friend to catch a view of the sunrise in the popular island destination.

Arik said he was watching the sky turn from dark to red-orange when he noticed the strange shape of the cloud overhead.

He said: 'I did not realise it right away. I was recording the sun rising when I noticed a cloud looking like a submarine. I then remembered about the terrible news.'

On April 21, a submarine carrying 53 Indonesia Navy crew sank while doing a live torpedo training exercises off the coast of Bali.

Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono said a piece of a torpedo and a bottle of grease used to lubricate a submarine’s periscope was found in the perimetre during the search.

He said: 'We have raised the status from submiss to subsunk. The items would not have come outside the submarine if there was no external pressure or without damage to its torpedo launcher.'

However, Weather Forecast Officer Putu Agus Dedi Permana explained that the shape of the clouds was influenced by weather processes.

He said: 'So the shape really depends on the movement of the wind, the movement of water vapor, and the amount of water vapor in the area.'