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There were lengthy and extensive sightings of vertical light pillars in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA last night from around 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. local time....  read more 

Hello, I just wanted to report seeing some light pillars last night near White Haven, Pennsylvania at approximately 00:30 Zulu Time. I thought what I was seeing could have been the aurora but one particular bright pillar looked like a laser beam shining up through the clouds with several fainter ones in a different direction. It was a dark, cold night and some parts of the sky were clear w/ some visible scattered clouds. I did not get any photographs because my camera is not capable of taking pictures in the dark or slow shutter speeds.

Anthony VELGUS
White Haven, Pennsylvania

Our reply :

We replied to Mr. VELGUS in very much the same way as we replied to Mr. LEVIN's e-mail of the same date. The fact that nearly all witnesses described the pillars as stationary and appearing either in the east and southeast (according to reports received by witnesses living west and northwest of Philadelphia) or in the west and south (according to reports from witnesses living east and north of the city), is a clear indication that the lights were not auroral pillars.

The pillars seen over Philadelphia are also the subject of one of our case examples.

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Thanks for the explanation, but now I have another question : does the light source necessarily have to be shining directly up to cause this....  read more 

Thanks for the reply and the additional confirmation that is was a light pillar event.....  read more 

I'm sure that the phenomenon happens more than it is observed here.....  read more 

On the night of November 18th, 2009 I saw about 20 light pillars in the sky above Mihonoseki, Shimane, Japan. It was very strange.....  read more 

I live on the outskirts of Akron, Ohio. Tonight, Jan 28, 11 p.m., took my dog out. As I look on the horizon of this busy city, and look towards the city, vertical shafts of light are rising in the southerly sky......  read more 

This visitor response relates to Chapter 4 of our article on light pillars, and in particular to the part where we mention the observation of a "circular reflection" near the zenith produced by a combustion flame from an oil rig in the North Sea on October 20, 1993.  read more