In January of 2021, photos started bouncing round the internet of this deeply weird thing happening in the sky above Glasgow, Scotland. Photoshop trickery?
The bizarre truth:
- yes, everyone really saw these
- no, they're not faked or manmade
- they absolutely don't exist.
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The bizarre truth:
- yes, everyone really saw these
- no, they're not faked or manmade
- they absolutely don't exist.
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Comments
This is an example of what we perceive being different from reality.
Our senses detect various stimuli, and from this our brains construct a model of reality that fits the data.
That this model is good enough most of the time is amazing.
Yes, those moments when our perceptive systems struggle to make sense of what they're seeing/hearing/etc. and present us with something that can't be real but *appears* to be - yeah, whew.
Here's another example: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/how-to-see-impossible-colours
The sky is not a distinct physical object like a dome or sphere, but it's real and we can see it's frequently blue
The visual appearance of color is fundamentally different from what color/pigment something actually holds.
But there is no “column of light”, no “pillars”.
Our brain naturally tells us that the light source is on the ground point straight up. And that’s wrong as wrong can be.
On a map (i.e. from above), “the individual reflecting snowflakes” form a line, not a single point.
😂 We’re probably beating a dead horse.
But WE’RE RIGHT!!! 😂
#FightingOnTheInternet 😂
That's not just beating a carcass, that's saying the carcass isn't real because it's actually a cloud of atoms & so is the stick we're beating it with & so is the brain that's supposedly thinking this & so is....
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/consciousness-and-beyond/202305/perception-reality-and-why-pink-doesnt-exist
With qualification ('in a sense', or 'physically') is less fun, I guess, but it's also more true.
And there are the so-called impossible colours, to weird things up even further: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/how-to-see-impossible-colours
Again: these are NOT spotlights shining upwards. And they aren't any form of aurora.
Also, they aren't actually there, even though everyone can see them.
Deeply, deeply weird, this.
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Yes, they come in different colours too!
Really gorgeous, right? Like an incredibly relaxing version of fireworks that even dogs could get behind.
(And yes, dogs should be able to see them like we can.)
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But the columns themselves? They just aren't there.
This effect also relies on VERY cold weather...
Okay okay. Time for the science.
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Most are flat & hexagonal, & most align themselves horizontally.
It's like a slow rain of tiny trendy-restaurant dinner plates, made of ice...
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(Diagram https://www.lwpetersen.com/atmospheric-optics/light-pillars/)
But you mainly see light from crystals at a certain distance from you. Different heights - same distance...
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And it creates a pillar of light that isn't really there.
I mean, this is barmy, right?
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