What look like light sabers or giant spotlights shooting straight up in the sky, light pillars are one of the most magnificent optical illusions. Light pillars occur when plate-shaped ice crystals ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Did you spot beams of light streaming down from the sky early Tuesday morning? Don’t worry—what you saw was real, not a sign of failing eyesight or an alien invasion.

Light pillars appear as beams of light to observers and tend to take on the color of the light source. While they are typically caused by street lights, any source of light can create a light ...