North Bay Man Captures Light Pillars On Camera

Timothy Elzinga Woke Up At 1:30 AM To Find Beams Of Light Shooting Out Of The Night Sky

After his 2-year-old woke him up in the middle of the night, Ontario resident Timothy Joseph Elzinga discovered a colourful light show in North Bay’s night sky.

“We can blame the two-year-old. He started crying at 1:30 a.m., so I got up and soothed him … and out the window I had the perfect view of these dancing lights in the sky,” said Elzinga.

The light show that Elzinga saw can be explained by a light phenomenon called light pillars. When the air gets cold enough, ice crystals will freeze in the air. When the crystals float close enough to the ground, any natural and artificial light will bounce off the ice, creating light pillars.

Elzinga described the event as something out of a sci-fi show.

“It looked like something from Star Trek was trying to beam people up,” said Elzinga.

When Elzinga saw the lights, he immediately went outside and captured photos of the event on his Android phone. He also later posted a video to YouTube where he talked about his experience and the phenomenon of light pillars. Checkout the video and photos below.