There have been reports of a glowing beam being visible in the sky over south east Texas. Theories spreading on social media have been quite entertaining. Alien Invasions, Super Humans, and Russians have all been discussed.
The images being posted online from various locations have been amazing to look at. Those lucky enough to have seen this phenomenon are witness to a scientific event know as an “Light Pillar”. These visual light pillars are not very common in our region. Atmospheric conditions need to be just right. Tonight the sky got it just right.
Light pillars are an atmospheric optical phenomenon in which vertical bands of light appear to stream off light objects or surfaces on Earth. They occur when light is reflected off tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. The light source can be anything from the sun (“solar” or “sun” pillars), to the moon (“lunar” or “moon” pillars), to streetlights. Light pillars can be seen at any time of the day.
Kathryn Prociv
The color and size of light pillars can tell you a lot about what’s going on in the atmosphere, as well as your surroundings. For example, if the pillars are multicolored (as opposed to all white), they are being caused by artificial lights; they are taking on the predominant color of the light source, which means a city is nearby. If light pillars extend high up into the sky, that’s a sign that ice crystals are suspended high into the atmosphere. If the pillars are very short or resemble something closer to a halo near the Earth’s surface, that means the ice crystals are hovering very close to the ground, indicating an extremely cold air mass.
Kathryn Prociv
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