AJC
Mysterious glowing red lights spotted in skies over West Texas
An unusual weather phenomenon caused the skies over Midland, Texas, to glow with a weird red light Tuesday night, similar to this shot of a sunset.
Residents in West Texas noticed mysterious glowing red lights in the skies over Midland Tuesday night.
People started calling into news stations reporting the unusual occurrence.
See these lights in the sky in the Permian Basin? There's nothing to worry about!
— Anthony Franze (@AnthonyFranzeWX) January 9, 2019
Basically what is happening here is light is being refracted by little ice crystals in the clouds. The light is likely from flare ups from the oil rigs. #txwx pic.twitter.com/bJJ1ntPiKn
Turns out the odd lights were an unusual weather phenomenon.
Light from gas flares in the area refracted off ice crystals in the clouds causing the weird red lights, according to the National Weather Service in Midland.
