Recent solar flare eruptions from the sun have brought about wondrous sights observed on Earth. One such example was seen in Japan, where a man saw nine white beams in the sky in Tottori Prefecture.
Source: @maashii_taiyo on X
Netizens who saw the image remarked that the beams appeared straight out of the anime “Neon Genesis Evangelion”.
Japanese media site Hint-Pot reports that Maashii Taiyo, the man who posted the image, is a travel producer and runs a homestay in Daisen town.
He said he saw the scene in front of his house at around 10pm on Saturday (11 May) and immediately picked up his mobile phone to take a photo.
He moved to Tottori Prefecture from Tokyo nine years ago and has only witnessed the phenomenon three or four times.
After enquiring with locals, Maashii found out that this strange sight was not the arrival of aliens, but a natural phenomenon known as a “light pillar”.
When this happens, the light from fishing boats operating offshore at night would refract into the sky, producing vertical light pillars.
Maashii told Hint-Pot: “I’ve received a variety of comments about the scenery that can be seen while living in Tottori, and I think it’s interesting that each person has a different way of looking at it.”
As of the time of writing, the post has been viewed over 12 million times.
Netizens were quick to draw comparisons to the legendary sci-fi anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Others compared it to a Yi-Gi-Oh! card, the Swords of Revealing Light.
Source: Yugioh Fandom
Light pillars are an optical phenomenon caused when light is refracted by ice crystals, according to Accuweather. These lights tend to take on the colour of the light source.
Any source of light can create a light pillar given proper conditions, AccuWeather meteorologist David Samuhel said.
But usually, light pillars come from man-made light sources like street lights.
Light pillars are different from auroras, AccuWeather noted.
Samuhel added: “Auroras are observed across a much wider area since they occur many miles up in the atmosphere. Light pillars occur close to the ground in the lowest levels of the atmosphere.”
Also read: Dazzling northern lights illuminate skies in Europe as ‘extreme’ solar storm hits Earth
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Featured image adapted from @maashii_taiyo on X.
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