Lights in the Sky over Barrie

[NAW]

Did anyone else see these lights in the sky over Barrie last night (Dec 26th). I'm not sure if it was the Northern Lights or not. I would assume so.

 

It was around 10pm, and cloudy. The lights where most pro-dominant in the south, but could also be seen in the west, and north. They weren't dancing much, but slightly changing in intensity.

 

I put my Sony Alpha on a tripod and snapped a few pictures.

 

Looking North West

 

And looking South West

 

If they where the Northern lights, they where shotty at best, but still cool to see! Nothing like we used to see in Pickle Lake..

[Joey]

That's really cool! Great pictures. Thanks for posting those.

 

Joey

[irishfield]

Ice fog and street light reflection is my bet !

[NAW]

Forgot to mention that as soon as the clouds went away, so did the lights..

[grt1]

in pickle lake you don;t have the city lights to spoil the effect, (don't you have to look south in pickle to see the northern lights LOL)

[Cudz]

I had similar sightings in Bsrrie when I was young. It happened when there was a certain humidity and temperature. THe moisture drops somehow refract and reflect the light upward from their source. Really weird. If you looked up at a street light, the light would somehow be shooting straight up. I remember looking at this phenomenon for about 10 minutes when I was about 13 years old. I thought at first it looked like the aurora borealis but after studying it, I just concluded it was something to do with water droplets in the air. I never actually researched it further and kind of forgot about it until now. 25 years later. very cool. Maybe now would be a good time to actually figure out what it is and what causes it.

[solopaddler]

Forgot to mention that as soon as the clouds went away, so did the lights..

 

Ice fog, Wayne hit the nail on the head.

[Rich Clemens]

Sounds like the mystery has been solved. Still must have been pretty cool to see. Thanks for sharing the pics. Enjoyed seeing them.

[Roy]

Great pictures, Nick.

 

Y'know, that's one of the really great things about this community. With the number of members here, there's always someone around who can answer your question. In this case it's either Irishfield who, over the years has observed weather conditions by having to fly though the stuff or Solopaddler who earns his living knowing about these things. It's really great. Thank you.

[Garnet]

Full moon boys light cloud and a little moisture MAKE for very Scary LIGHTS.

[NAW]

(don't you have to look south in pickle to see the northern lights LOL)

 

Just about!

 

Thanks Wayne and Solo for figuring this one out for me. One of my buddies saw the same thing a few weeks ago, and asked me what it was. Now I can tell him that it was not aliens, which was my obvious first answer..

Edited December 29, 2010 by NAW

[aplumma]

Ice fog and street light reflection is my bet !

 

Then why was that black suburban up their with men in black suits......Aliens...but I have said to much already.

 

 

Art