A pilot flying over the Atlantic Ocean shared a photo to Reddit after seeing a mysterious red glow coming from the clouds. While fans of Stranger Things may have instantly thought it's the upside-down and started humming Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill, there is actually a scientific explanation for it.
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The pilot who goes by the Reddit name u/mohiemen (opens in new tab) posted to the Reddit channel r/Damnthatsinteresting and in the six days since he posted it's been upvoted 111K times and had an impressive 6.5k comments. Having never seen anything like it he took to Reddit in hope of finding out what the mysterious red glow was. While many of the people commenting were able to share some scientific information as to what the light source is, others joked that it was another Stranger Things (opens in new tab) PR stunt.
mysterious_red_glow_seen_over_the_atlantic_pilot from r/Damnthatsinteresting
Certain breeds of fish such as Saury which are also known as mackerel pike are attracted to red lights. Modern fishing vessels use red LED panels to draw the fish to the surface of the water making them easier to catch but from above it certainly looked otherworldly. For an unaware pilot who didn't know of such a fishing method, it definitely looked like it could've been the entrance to the upside-down as found in the middle of lovers lake.
Fishing lamps have long been used to lure fish to the surface but modern LED lamps are far more effective and much safer than halogen lamps as they produce less heat and ultraviolet than filament bulbs.
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This isn't the first time mysterious glowing lights have been spotted by a pilot. In 2018, the International Space Station also captured a photo showing glowing green fishing lights coming from boats off the coast of Cambodia.
It's a simple explanation for a bizarre thing to see and it'll surely be a flight the pilot won't ever forget.
