Funnel of Light

My husband and I went to Dallas for additional testing on his eyes. Coming back, we got stuck sitting at a standstill in traffic for 2 ½ hours because of a tractor-trailer rig and a Dodge pickup uniting at 75 mph in the middle of the Interstate. Finally, after emergency personnel finished cutting the guy in the pickup out and flying him out to a hospital and clearing the debris and the tractor trailer rig from the road, we made it to the next town and stopped for supper. Too tired to drive the rest of the way home, and my husband being unable to drive because his eyes were dilated, we booked a motel room and slept.

We were up early this morning headed home. We noticed the skies were partly cloudy and had a strange haze to them, but what we saw next was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. A long funnel of light spread down from the sky right in front of our pickup. It appeared almost solid, was very bright, and extended back up through the sky straight into the sun.

We realize that this had to be some sort of optical illusion or reflection, but we haven’t quite figured out the particulars. We could both see it clearly from our prospective seats in the truck. It lasted for several minutes, until the sun rose a little higher in the sky, then disappeared. Neither of us have ever seen anything like it. The pics don't really do it justice, but I used what I had - my Nokia 6682 cellphone.

Any ideas on an explanation?