[Can one determine what the cloud situation was like by this photo?]

ajpoolshark, you are absolutely correct, this photo is allegedly of the trail left by a missile that took down the MH17 plane. However, the question is purely a meteorological one. And here's the followup question I was going to ask, together with the background. Again, sorry about not mentioning the background ahead of time, the reason will become immediately clear. If the moderators think this is in poor taste or is not sufficiently related to meterology - I will succumb to their ruling.

 

People elsewhere on the Internet have used this photo to argue about the position of the AA system that may have been used to down the aircraft. Some people claim that the photo is a fake, in particular, that it couldn't have been taken at the specified time and place, because "the skies are clear on the photo, whereas the forecast was heavy clouds".

 

I'm not a meteorologist, but I am a sailor, and as such, was suspicious of these claims, knowing how imprecise forecasts can be (certainly imprecise enough for a person to based such claims on a "civilian" forecast - and even on a much better naval forecast based directly on a model of decent temporal and spacial resolution). Furthermore, in my opinion, even the weather observed varies sufficiently in order to question such claims. What I wanted was a confirmation from a qualified source. 

 

To wit, an observation position about 20 miles away has reported Stratocumulus with 90% coverage about 1 hour before the picture was allegedly taken. Would that be ground enough to discard the photo as a fake?

[Can one determine what the cloud situation was like by this photo?]

I seem to have gone too far by not supplying any context. Please disregard the column of smoke in the center of the picture, it is irrelevant for the question at hand.

[Can one determine what the cloud situation was like by this photo?]

Greetings meteorologists!

 

I would like to present a photo, and ask you what can you say (and with what degree of certainty) about the clouds at the time and locale presented at this photo:

 

 

If you are curious, I'll then explain the background for this request, but I'd rather not do it ahead of time, so as not to skew the possible responses.