# What phenomenon would explain \[the lights in the sky in\] this video? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936 "2016-01-23T03:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/1 "2016-01-23T03:41:55Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TrNxH6VM3H0/maxresdefault.jpg "No clue...") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrNxH6VM3H0) What caused this unusual pattern in the sky? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/2 "2016-01-23T03:50:05Z")
I don’t know what did cause this, but it could be an airplane flying past another airplane, or an airplane flying past a planet. Nothing special here. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/3 "2016-01-23T03:57:53Z")
Planes. They haven’t been unusual for a long long time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/4 "2016-01-23T04:42:10Z")
I’m not entirely sure what’s supposed to be remarkable there. It looks like a plane and Venus or something to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/5 "2016-01-23T04:46:37Z")
The most unusual thing about that video is that it was recorded in portrait mode. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/6 "2016-01-23T05:20:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I don’t know what did cause this, but it could be an airplane flying past another airplane, or an airplane flying past a planet. > > Nothing special here. Come on, sheeple, wake up! ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/7 "2016-01-23T07:40:17Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > The most unusual thing about that video is that it was recorded in portrait mode. Just say no to [vertical videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/8 "2016-01-23T08:58:36Z")
Swamp gas from a weather balloon got trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light from Venus. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/9 "2016-01-23T13:53:57Z")
Aircraft use a blinking beacon, the ISS doesn’t, however it can appear very bright. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/10 "2016-01-24T21:16:29Z")
The sky is beautiful. If people would look at up it now and then and appreciate the beauty, they may not be so surprised by such things as stars and airplanes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/11 "2016-01-24T21:20:29Z")
Holy shit. That was 30 seconds of meaningless. Yeah, plane, Venus, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Zach29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Zach29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zach29)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/12 "2016-01-25T02:17:59Z")
Chinook helicopter with two sets of rotor blades. Is there a military base anywhere nearby? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/13 "2016-01-25T19:59:48Z")
It’s true that a plane’s nav lights flash, but landing lights don’t. If a plane is in its landing pattern, you could see both, and the turns leading to the landing glide path would make the lights seem to change positions. The photographer doesn’t say if he’s near an airport or, if it’s a helicopter, near a hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/14 "2016-01-25T22:12:46Z")
To me, the real fascinating question here is why anyone would think that anything in that video was at all notable. It’s like some people never notice something that’s been before their eyes for their entire lives, and then all of a sudden do notice it and think it’s new. See also, for instance, those who never noticed contrails until recently, and called them “chemtrails”. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/15 "2016-01-26T03:16:08Z")
It looks to me like a single aircraft w/ two lights. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/16 "2016-01-26T03:48:07Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It looks to me like a single aircraft w/ two lights. Except that one moves noticeably, and the other is stationary, or at least moves very slowly. It’s two different objects. ---
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/17 "2016-01-26T06:08:19Z")
Thanks Peter, it was indeed the slow-moving unsynchronized lights that made me curious when I came across the video. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/18 "2016-01-26T06:49:09Z")
Two objects - most likely two objects that are not even remotely close together, but just happen to look that way from where the video was shot. (Consider, for example, that in those cases where the shadow of a plane passes over you, it would have looked, from where you are standing, like the plane was flying into the sun, but the plane is not actually flying anywhere near the sun) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/19 "2016-01-26T06:54:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Planes. They haven’t been unusual for a long long time. Yeah, but what if it was an “aeroplane”. ---
**Author:** ![IDtenT\_Error](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@IDtenT\_Error](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IDtenT_Error)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936/20 "2016-01-26T14:28:01Z")
> [@andrea\_green](#): > > What caused this unusual pattern in the sky? I just looked up the position of Venus on the date and location the video was supposedly taken. It would have been about as high in the sky as the video shows at about the time in the morning the sky was as bright as the video shows. It was an aircraft passing by Venus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-phenomenon-would-explain-the-lights-in-the-sky-in-this-video/743936.md?page=2)