When an unexpected illumination or movement appears in the night sky, the immediate question is often, “What was that?” The lights that capture our attention range from natural phenomena to advanced human-made technology. To understand what you are seeing, it is helpful to systematically explore the most common sources, beginning with those furthest from Earth and moving closer to home.
Lights Originating from Space and the Atmosphere
The brightest, most persistent lights frequently mistaken for something unusual are often the planets Venus and Jupiter. These celestial bodies are much closer to Earth than distant stars, so they appear as small, bright discs rather than pinpoint sources of light. Because their light is less affected by atmospheric turbulence, planets tend to shine steadily, while stars appear to twinkle.
When a planet is low on the horizon, its light passes through a greater amount of the atmosphere, causing it to become distorted and sometimes appear to “move” or flash with different colors. This effect, called atmospheric refraction, can make a bright planet seem like a slowly hovering aircraft or a distant light source moving erratically. Planets follow predictable paths, so their identity can be confirmed by checking astronomical charts for the date and time of the sighting.
Other natural lights are brief streaks, such as meteors, which are tiny specks of space debris that vaporize upon entering the atmosphere at extreme speeds. This rapid entry creates a momentary, bright streak of light. Larger, rarer fragments, known as fireballs or bolides, can shine brighter than Venus and may even break apart, often accompanied by a faint sonic boom a minute or two later.
Atmospheric phenomena also contribute to confusing light sightings. Auroras, known as the Northern and Southern Lights, are dynamic displays caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere, primarily producing a pale green glow. More rarely, light pillars can appear, which are columns of light extending vertically above or below a bright source. These pillars are created when light reflects off millions of tiny, flat ice crystals suspended in cold air near the ground.
Common Sources of Human-Made Aerial Lights
Many reports of unidentified lights are eventually attributed to conventional aircraft viewed from an unfamiliar angle or great distance. Commercial and military aircraft are equipped with a standardized array of lights that can be deceiving at night. These include bright, flashing white anti-collision strobes, and navigation lights, which are fixed red (left wingtip) and green (right wingtip) lights that indicate the aircraft’s direction of travel.
The characteristics of these lights can be misinterpreted, especially when an aircraft is moving toward or away from the observer, making its movement appear stationary or its lights seem to pulse erratically. Flares, often used for military training, distress signals, or illumination, are another source of bright, descending lights. Parachute flares are launched to an altitude of around 300 meters, where they deploy a bright pyrotechnic that burns for about 40 seconds while slowly descending under a small parachute.
High-altitude weather balloons, released daily by weather agencies, can also cause confusion. When illuminated by the sun’s rays high above the horizon, these balloons can appear as slow-moving, bright, white or sometimes orange spheres. Small, commercial drones are increasingly sighted at night, typically identified by a tightly clustered group of navigation lights and a bright, regularly pulsing anti-collision strobe. Unlike aircraft, drones frequently exhibit precise hovering capabilities or make sudden, sharp changes in direction at low altitudes.
Explanations Related to Advanced or Novel Technology
Modern aerospace developments have introduced new types of aerial lights easily mistaken for anomalies, primarily due to their sheer numbers or unique behavior. The most common are satellite mega-constellations, such as Starlink, which provide global internet access. Immediately following a launch, these satellites are in a lower orbit and travel in a close, single-file formation, appearing as a “train” of bright, reflective lights moving across the night sky.
These satellite trains are visible because they reflect sunlight, not because they generate their own light. They are usually only seen just after sunset or before sunrise before they reach their final, higher, and more dispersed orbits. Another source of bright, moving lights is the uncontrolled re-entry of space debris, such as spent rocket bodies or defunct satellites. Unlike fast-moving meteors, these human-made objects enter the atmosphere at a shallower angle and lower speed, often resulting in a slower, more drawn-out display that fragments into a cluster of glowing pieces.
Certain government and military programs utilize specialized aircraft that lack conventional identification features. Aircraft like the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance jet fly well above 70,000 feet, where their surfaces can reflect sunlight at unusual angles, making them appear as a strange, slow-moving light source to ground observers. The unusual appearance of these platforms, designed for stealth or high-altitude endurance, contributes to misidentification as anomalous technology.
How Unexplained Sightings Are Classified and Reported
When a sighting cannot be immediately explained by common natural or human-made sources, it enters the formal investigation process for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The U.S. government established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to standardize the collection and analysis of these reports, primarily focusing on incidents encountered by military personnel. The majority of UAP reports are eventually resolved and classified into known categories, such as airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, or government programs.
A sighting is officially classified as “unexplained” not because it is assumed to be otherworldly, but because the available data is insufficient for positive identification. This lack of attribution often stems from limitations in sensor data, such as poor resolution video, lack of multiple sensor corroboration, or observer misperception. The current framework acknowledges that a small percentage of sightings remain unexplained due to anomalous performance characteristics or an absence of necessary information to draw a firm conclusion.