Mysterious "Northern Lights" Spotted Over NYC Last Night

Two readers have e-mailed us with reports of strange, pretty lights over Brooklyn or Queens last night. Here's an account of one sighting:

I saw something weird in the sky last night, and a bunch of other people did, too. Disclaimer: I am NOT a U.F.O. person, nor do I think that's what I saw. I'm just very curious to figure out what exactly it was. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation of some kind.

I live in Williamsburg, and I was coming home from a bar (only two drinks) at about 12:30-12:40 early Wednesday morning. I noticed in the sky over Queens that there was a bright green, vertical band of light. As I watched, the column changed between green, blue, white, and red. At some times it appeared there were two columns barely separated. The column was limited in its vertical height, and was really more of a segment. The segment began and terminated far above the ground.

I stopped other people and they were amazed to see it as well. I came across several people in McCarren Park who were standing out in the cold watching it. It began to get weaker and faded about 1:15 a.m... It was really beautiful! Was it an art project, something being projected into the sky? It appeared in the North/East, beyond McCarren Park. Again, I'm not a "tinfoil" type. Just awed and really curious!

Anyone else notice last night's light show, or have any theories? Did the DEP finally activate the true purpose of the illuminated Greenpoint Sludge Digester Egg Spaceships? (The DEP tells us they weren't testing any lights last night.) Seems like there's a lot of weird phenomenon baffling the region these days: the maple syrup smell is haunting us again, groundhogs are wild with bloodlust, UFOs are hovering in Jersey... If you connect all the dots, you know where it all leads, don't you?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on February 4, 2009 10:46 AM

Comments [rss]

Jason

Well hey, if his is from the testing of lights at Shea then we will be seeing them all summer long and that will put this all to rest.

Gothamist, please follow up!!!

:)

thefacts

How come only a few hipsters in Wburg have reported this?

Another one of their annoying "art" projects"?

Jason

I TOOK PICS AND JUST SENT THEM TO GOTHAMIST TO POST. THERE IS NO WAY THIS WAS FROM YANKEE STADIUM OR SHEA. THE PICS WILL SETTLE THAT, BUT WILL DEFINITELY RAISE QUESTIONS AS TO WHAT PRODUCED THE LIGHT, WHICH WAS VERY COOL LOOKING, IT CHANGED EVERY 10 SEC OR SO AND WAS SOMETIMES RED, BLUE, PURPLE, WHITE, AND GREEN. IT CONTINUED FOR MAYBE 15 MIN AND LOOKED TO BE SHINING VERTICALLY DOWN RATHER THAN UP. IT WAS ALSO SUPER HIGH IN THE SKY.

Spender

I saw this as well while walking across McCarren. Couldn't be Yankee stadium because the light was in the Eastern sky. At first I thought it was from a spotlight but there was no sign of it beneath this "anomaly". Very weird but nice to look at, the colors were very vibrant too which was odd, and they would change after about 10 seconds or so. No idea what it could be, could of had something to do with the snow/ice.

imnotsayin

has anyone else wandered around the back of those DEP digesters in Greenpoint since they got the purple light treatment? there's some amazing stainless steel flare stacks where they burn off the methane, right next to the street. makes for an amazing photo op:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3339/3202693304_f87a56a6d3_b.jpg and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imjustsayin/3202694112/in/photostream/