
Unknown orange-red glow over Pacific Ocean - 3rd3
http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/pacific_eruption
======
gazaleon
From Wikipedia —

    
    
      "Earthquake light is an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon
      that reportedly appears in the sky at or near areas of
      tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions."
    

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_light](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_light)

Considering there were reports of seismic activity in the area around the
approximate time of the event, it's possible that ionized air promoted
formation of sprites and/or ball lightning.

~~~
glifchits
Is it just me or do those hypotheses sound like the mechanics of a cartoon
villain's evil plan?

~~~
ebilgenius
I know that's what I'd do if I were evil and a genius. Which I'm not.

------
lotsofmangos
Flying towards Alaska south of the Kamchatka peninsula...

I bet he saw this hypersonic vehicle being blown up and the lights from a
massive observation fleet.

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimenta...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimental-
us-hypersonic-weapon-explodes-four-seconds-after-test-launch-in-
alaska-9690586.html)

 _" An experimental hypersonic weapon developed to reach targets anywhere in
the world within an hour has been destroyed by the US military four seconds
after its launch for “public safety”._

 _The test in Alaska in the early hours of Monday morning was aborted after
controllers detected a problem with the system, the Pentagon said, and the
launcher is believed to have detonated before the missile was deployed. "_

~~~
chippy
I think this has hit it on the nose. It also fits in with his earlier
observation of the launch or crash (but no photos)

"Then, very far in the distance ahead of us, just over the horizon an intense
lightflash shot up from the ground. It looked like a lightning bolt, but way
more intense and directed vertically up in the air. "

Bravo sir!

~~~
lotsofmangos
The timing seems right, they were firing south, and that photo from The
Independent matches his description very well.

edit - I've posted the suggestion to his blog thingy, am going to keep an eye
to see what the Flying Dutchman makes of it, if anything. Also, is a suitable
handle really, given the context.

------
davidw
Guy has a lot of other nice pictures:

St. Elmo's fire:
[http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/156304671](http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/156304671)

Northern lights from inside the cockpit:
[http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/155775399](http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/155775399)

~~~
mcguire
The aurora looks like the majority of its glow is below the aircraft? It's
green, so wikipedia implies it's oxygen at a relatively lower level, but I
didn't think it was below 30,000 feet.

------
geoffsanders
Considering lava cools and darkens almost immediately under water, I'd imagine
it would have to be an incredibly epic underwater eruption (and thus,
detectible) for that much light to make its way through that much water and
project itself onto the clouds above that location. Also, the light should
diffuse as it makes its way through water, air, and onto the clouds above, so
the seemingly neat circles of light don't seem to match up with a sea floor-
based light source either.

~~~
idlewords
The light would also be much bluer if it had passed through any significant
quanitity of seawater. Red light attenuates very fast.

------
brianstorms
There was a quake right nearby where the pilot saw this phenomena. Relation?

[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5wm#...](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5wm#summary)

I wish the pilot had indicated exact UTC time the phenom happened. Hard to
pinpoint but nevertheless, his position and the quake's position are quite
close, even if the two events were hours apart.

~~~
nattaggart
It looks like UTC time is indicated in the watermarks. 11:17 - 11:24 UTC.

------
michaelsbradley
_Earthquake Alarm: Impending earthquakes have been sending us warning signals
--and people are starting to listen_

[http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/earthquake-
alarm](http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/earthquake-alarm)

"A light or glow in the sky sometimes heralds a big earthquake. On 17 January
1995, for example, there were 23 reported sightings in Kobe, Japan, of a
white, blue, or orange light extending some 200 meters in the air and
spreading 1 to 8 kilometers across the ground. Hours later a 6.9-magnitude
earthquake killed more than 5500 people..."

~~~
ruloo
hooray earthquake history. If he is talking about aug 23/24th 2014 there were
3 earthquakes over ~24 hours. Im not educated on earthquakes. Just an
interesting footnote for a mystery.

[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72282711#...](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72282711#summary)
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5rc#...](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5rc#summary)
[http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5x1#...](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000s5x1#summary)

------
pittsburgh
A possible explanation from a 2003 paper is Electron Holes (
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole)
)

"Rocks That Crackle and Sparkle and Glow: Strange Pre-Earthquake Phenomena"

[http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_17_1_freund...](http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_17_1_freund.pdf)
[PDF]

------
richardwigley
Mysterious lightning flashes that appear to precede earthquakes could be
sparked by movements in the ground below, US scientists say.

...

"Our first suspicion was this has got to be a mistake. There must be something
stupid we are doing," said Professor Troy Shinbrot, of Rutgers University, New
Jersey.

"We took a tupperware container filled with flour, tipped it back and forth
until cracks appeared, and it produced 200 volts of charge.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-
environment-26462348](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26462348)

~~~
3rd3
Wouldn't the water 'absorb' the charge?

~~~
vanderZwan
You mean be conductive enough to discharge it? Depends on how pure the water
is:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_cond...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity#In_ionic_liquids.2Felectrolytes)

~~~
knodi123
we're talking about ocean water, though. an excellent conductor.

------
Fragment
Well, the comments are interesting...

"You, Sir, have caught some absolutely breathtaking photos of POSITIVE ET'S
AND THEIR CRAFT CLEANING UP THE FUKUSHIMA RADIATION AND SAVING THE PLANET AND
IT'S ECOSYSTEM FROM SURE ANNHILATION!...It is QUITE OBVIOUS WHAT THOSE LIGHTS
ARE, MY "SILLY WABBITS"!!!"

------
Blahah
Nobody seems to have considered a biological explanation.

What about a tide of bioluminescent bacteria or algae? Typically these emit
blue light and are known, in the case of bacteria, as the 'milky seas
effect'[0]. But algal tides sometimes bioluminesce red or orange. With a high
local concentration of nitrogen or another limiting nutrient (which might
upswell from the seabed due seismic activity below) you might get extremely
high concentrations leading to the patterns shown in the photograph.

0:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_seas_effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_seas_effect)

~~~
grmarcil
One of the commenters on his site mentioned bioluminescence. It seems unlikely
to me that such an effect could produce the intensity of light required to
project the pattern he saw onto clouds at 30k+ feet though.

~~~
Blahah
I thought the light in the sky was well explained by the seismic phenomenon.

------
Intermernet
This earthquake (MB4.6 Kuril Islands, Aug. 24, 2014, 9:45 p.m. UTC) matches
closely to the time and location, but it doesn't really explain the claimed
observations.

[http://www.iris.edu/ds/nodes/dmc/tools/event/4768132](http://www.iris.edu/ds/nodes/dmc/tools/event/4768132)

~~~
Robelius
The red/orange might of been the effects of a volcano. Just speculating
though, since it wouldn't explain the lack of ash.

------
madaxe_again
How about mid-oceanic methane flares lit by lightning? Would explain the
initial flashes and the incandescent look of the lights.

------
eric_bullington
I'm hoping a resident atmospheric scientist and/or geologist will show up with
answers. There's probably a very good explanation for the (electrical?) bolt
of light that he saw at first and the green color of the night sky, and I'd
bet almost anything that both have to do with submarine volcanic eruptions.

~~~
codezero
I think the answers about it being an underwater lava formation sound
reasonable. If it were in/around a cloud, and maybe a bit more transient, I'd
be tempted to say it was a red sprite:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(lightning)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_\(lightning\))

Sprites/elves are my favorite atmospheric effect :)

~~~
dnautics
I asked my vulcanologist friend and she said it could not be underwater lava.

~~~
eric_bullington
Maybe she would write a blog post about it?

------
kevinwang
The comments below the post are mostly toxic.

~~~
tommoor
You're telling me this isn't the US government conducting top secret
experiments to control the weather?!

~~~
lotsofmangos
Well, probably not the bit about the weather -
[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimenta...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/experimental-
us-hypersonic-weapon-explodes-four-seconds-after-test-launch-in-
alaska-9690586.html)

------
moron4hire
At first, I thought this might have been an announcement for a spin-off of
"Welcome to Night Vale."

If you're not familiar, it's a fiction podcast that presents itself as a
community announcement hour on the town of Night Vale's public radio station.
There was a particular story arc involving a sentient, glowing cloud that
descended on town and demanded to be made a part of the city council.

It's free, and it's cute. If you like such things, check it out.
[http://commonplacebooks.com/](http://commonplacebooks.com/)

------
elijahparker
The lights in the ocean are a mystery to me, but the green light in the sky
would be airglow (1). I've seen it many times, even stronger than in the op's
photos. I don't believe there's any connection between the sky and the ocean
lights. 1:
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow)

------
callmeed
Browsing the various discussions on Reddit, the most plausible explanation is
(IMO) fleets of squid fishing boats.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/EverythingScience/comments/2eiv1g/pi...](http://www.reddit.com/r/EverythingScience/comments/2eiv1g/pilots_observe_unknown_orangered_glow_over/)

~~~
madaxe_again
Nah, they use white/blue lights - definitely not orange!

------
NextPerception
Chinese lanterns from a cruise ship maybe. Someone should check to see if any
were in the area.

------
dperfect
[http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/157113241](http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/157113241)

I could be wrong, but I think it would be almost impossible to capture an
8-second exposure _while flying_ and somehow manage to keep the stars from
becoming light trails - at least not without some very serious camera
stabilization equipment.

Since the photographer didn't seem to mention anything special used for taking
the photos, I'm inclined to say they've been 'shopped.

~~~
bane
The hubble moves significantly faster than an aircraft and takes exposures
significantly longer than 8seconds.

~~~
dredmorbius
The Hubble isn't flying through the atmosphere, and is specifically engineered
to take very long-duration exposures.

You've seen the Hubble Deep Field image, right? The one where Hubble's
operators found an entirely empty region of sky and stared at it for over 134
hours over ten days and 342 exposures (mostly separated to keep individual
exposures from being degraded by cosmic ray strikes).

That's really not comparable with an aircraft, moving through the atmosphere,
with turbulence, engine vibration, and other factors contributing to
deviations from a steady trajectory. Though the image _does_ appear to be
fairly plausible from others' comments.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_deep_field](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_deep_field)

~~~
bane
The question was about why there weren't streaks from the long exposure photo.
My point is that the hubble also moves very fast and takes long exposures of
tiny points of light without streaks. Streaking has very little to do with the
atmosphere and more to do with moving the target around the sensor during
exposure.

The hubble is above the atmosphere to reduce other kinds of optical
interference, but streaking isn't one of them.

~~~
dredmorbius
Any vibration or relative movement of either the camera or aircraft will
_also_ cause movement trails, though not the ones typically associated with
long exposures and star trails centered on the North Star.

Most such long exposures span at _least_ several minutes, though.

------
jusben1369
Pretty sure this lines up with the US military launching then immediately
destroying a new weaponry system in Alaska:
[http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-usa-military-
hy...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-usa-military-hypersonic-
idUSKBN0GP1ED20140825)

------
astigsen
When the earthquake hit California there was also people reporting seeing a
blue light.

Some examples here: [http://abcnews.go.com/US/northern-california-
struck-60-magni...](http://abcnews.go.com/US/northern-california-
struck-60-magnitude-earthquake/story?id=25101008#comment-1556788122)

~~~
dredmorbius
Possibly transformer explosions?

------
jonifico
I'm sticking to the theory saying it is volcanic material. I mean, it's common
sense. Now, when it comes to the northern lights, I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe
a reaction caused by the volcanic material reaching out to the sky? It must've
been an immense explosion for it to do that, though.

------
narrator
There was a mysterious giant crack in the earth in Mexico last Friday.

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/22/giant-crack-in-
mexi...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/22/giant-crack-in-mexico-
video_n_5699362.html)

~~~
scarygliders
Looks like a fault line/tectonic plate movement, to me.

------
vegancap
I'd hazard a guess that the recent volcanic activity, there was probably ash
in the air? Especially with a recent earthquake. Red light photons move
stronger than other colours in the spectrum don't they? I have no idea...
looks amazing though.

------
EGreg
Underwater volcano is quite possible near a subduction zone. Were they flying
over one?

------
CucumberLime
Wow, those stars are amazing at altitude and with no light pollution, I wish
the passengers could see up too (and also without a nose-greased, scratched-up
plastic in between).

~~~
Sharlin
Those photos are eight to thirty second exposures at f/2.8 and ISO >10k -
there's a _lot_ more light in the pictures than a human eye can ever gather.
I'm sure the sky would still look pretty epic to a completely dark-adjusted
eye, though.

------
atlantic
I'm surprised no-one has suggested weather balloons.

------
windsurfer
Here's an aerial picture of fishing boats near Thailand:
[http://i.imgur.com/kvOF9nL.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/kvOF9nL.jpg)

The pattern seems similar.

~~~
wdewind
I'm sorry, what? The two look nothing alike:
[http://m1.i.pbase.com/g9/23/582523/2/157113241.BeCtINyg.jpg](http://m1.i.pbase.com/g9/23/582523/2/157113241.BeCtINyg.jpg)

~~~
jrmiii
Considering the photog cranked up the iso and ran a 30sec exposure, i'd
imagine the variability could produce some strange effects. This is also shot
through clouds.

~~~
Zancarius
I'm trying to find where you and others are getting this notion of a 30 second
exposure. The watermark on the picture appears to claim 8 seconds and there's
nothing else on the site that indicates much more than 8 seconds. Was the post
edited at some point?

~~~
radnor
This picture's watermark claims it was a 30 second exposure:
[http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/157113240](http://www.pbase.com/flying_dutchman/image/157113240)

~~~
Zancarius
Ah, I missed that one.

Although it also appears to be much more distant in that shot, hence the
(possible?) reason for a longer exposure.

It's interesting to note that the closer shot is an 8 second exposure, though
I'm not sure what bearing that might have.

------
kghose
I don't understand how, with an 8s exposure from a moving vehicle, the photos
have perfect stars. There should be streaking.

~~~
jdpage
Turns out that stars are really friggin' far away, so with a nice steady plane
and some stabilization equipment, you're not going to get enough parallax for
streaking to occur.

~~~
kghose
Hi, streaking is not necessarily due to parallax. It's due to movement of the
camera and or movement of the earth. (Try taking a hand held long exposure of
the stars, for example).

I guess for that 8s the plan was very stable (no rolling/pitching) AND the
focal length is short enough and the resolution low enough the streakiness is
masked. I'm still impressed by the amount of stars he captured.

------
spiritplumber
Is this where we start building giant robots in preparation for the giant
monsters that will appear?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fupWquPNoTc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fupWquPNoTc)

No, because that would kick all sorts of ass.

------
nnq
R'lyeh is rising, of course. Heil Cthulhu!

------
McCoy_Pauley
GOJIRA!!!

------
nether
These are hostile... Why must we meddle?

~~~
fuzzywalrus
Well played, sir. One internet point for you.

------
waynemr
Viral marketing for Cloverfield 2 or Pacific Rim 2?

