A series of light pillars hanging in the sky for over an hour in Jeju Island is the result of a rare optical phenomenon.
Light pillars hovering in the sky in Jeju. (Photo: Newsweek).
The cylindrical light pillars suspended in the sky above Jeju City in South Korea were photographed and shared on social media by local residents, Newsweek reported on October 31. According to witnesses, the light pillars appeared in the sky for more than an hour. Many social media users associated the phenomenon with extraterrestrial activity, but Alex O’Brien, a meteorologist from KOAA News5 in Colorado Springs, USA, explained that this is an atmospheric optical phenomenon.
“Light pillars are optical phenomena in which light is projected from the ground into the sky, occurring when tiny ice crystals, averaging about 0.02 mm in size, form and float near the Earth’s surface. They act as reflectors, transmitting the city’s light back to the human eye or camera lens. Typically, ice crystals are disk-shaped and form at temperatures between -10 to -40 degrees Celsius,” O’Brien stated.
This phenomenon has been recorded in the United States, but it is quite rare in temperate regions like South Korea. On the night the photo was taken, the temperature did not drop below 12 degrees Celsius. However, the relative humidity was high, around 72%, with very little wind. These conditions likely contributed to the formation of the light pillars. “From my personal experience living in Colorado, light pillars can appear 1-2 times during the winter. The colder the night, the higher the chance of seeing the light pillars”, O’Brien shared.
Depending on weather conditions, light pillars can last for hours and can even be observed throughout the night if the weather remains unchanged. To see light pillars, observers need to go outside during the coldest and most humid times of the night, while being close to the city for the light to reflect, according to O’Brien.
