Some extraordinary light pillars cast colorful columns in the sky over Wisconsin

Looks as if Mother Nature is in the holiday spirit! The atmosphere decided to put up lights of its own Sunday evening in Beloit, Wisconsin, where colorful columns of light shone in the night sky.

Tom Purdy snapped this shot of the luminous pylons a little before midnight Sunday:

These “light pillars” are particularly rare. Purdy reports that the apparitions were accompanied by an equally curious phenomenon: freezing fog.

These more ghostly pillars of light were also photographed by on the same night in Beloit:

The formation of light pillars requires hexagonally shaped ice crystals in the air to reflect the light. Moreover, they have to be oriented horizontally, like flying discs or plates to bounce light back toward the observer. Less-organized orientations can produce sun pillars and halos.

Here’s one more view of Sunday night’s stunning pillars in Beloit:

Pillars of light ok! But these are freaking me out!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or become a Patron on Patreon / donate through Paypal. Please and thank you

[WP]