Stranger pillars of light were seen above the sky in Beaver County early this morning.
Jared Owens tells KDKA Radio he looked out his front porch in downtown Beaver and saw tall streaks of light in the distant sky.
We reached out to the Kamin Science Center for an explanation to find out where the light may have come front.
Peyton Thiem, Assistant Manger of Buhl Planetarium, says the light pillars are caused by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.
“These ice crystals are typically oriented flatly in the atmosphere, and they create this effect as light passes through them,” said Thiem. “The light source can be from city lights and streetlights or from natural light such as the Sun or Moon. By looking at the photo, it looks as though those pillars are likely being created by the artificial light below.”
Thiem adds that “conditions have to be just right for this to occur” are best seen on “very cold, windless nights or early mornings.”
The lights also usually reflect the color of their light sources, leading many people to mistake the light pillars for the Northern Lights.