Nine pillars of light appear in night sky in 'otherworldly' display
Nine streaks of lights recently lit up Japan's skies, leaving some residents bamboozled.
The unusual phenomena occurred on May 11, with people taking to social media to share pictures of what they saw.
In one photo taken at Mikuriya Port in Daisen Town, Japan, the bright lights were extremely clear against the dark clouds, and it looks like something straight from the movie Signs.
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"A streak of light was spotted in the sky above Mikuriya Port in Daisen Town, Tottori at around 10pm today," the X user who took the picture penned.
Sharing another snap, someone replied: "I also saw it at Nariishi Beach in Kotoura Town."
People were left in awe at the unusual light display.
"It's mysterious and wonderful," gushed one person. "I want to see it with my own eyes."
"It's like an entrance to a mysterious world," wrote another, while dozens of different social media users hailed the images as 'amazing'.
But others were more creeped out by it. Someone wrote: "Wow... that's scary."
"What is this!? It feels like you might be abducted by aliens," suggested someone else.
"The sight of the light makes the area appear to be under attack," added a third.
While it looks like something rather otherworldly, the explanation for the light phenomena is actually quite mundane.
A similar thing took place back in 2015 and has since been put down to reflections of off-shore fishing vessel lights, Metro Online reports.
It's known as 'isaribi kochu', which translates to 'fish-attracting light pillars'.
As to what causes the light to all of a sudden reflect so brightly, following the 2015 sighting, Japan Today explained that its happens when 'overnight temperatures drop down low enough that ice crystals form in the air high above the ships'.
"When the conditions are just right to produce large enough crystals but no precipitation, the light from their boats reflects off the crystals and shines brightly enough to be seen from shore," the publication adds.
So for those of you who feared the end was nigh, it's not.
Meanwhile, over in Portugal in recent days, some residents will have witnessed a huge, bright blue light shoot across the sky.
This wasn't anything to do with fishing though, and was actually a meteor.
It was so bright, it made the night sky almost appear like it was daytime in a very impressive display.
After these two incidences and the Aurora Borealis recently being visible from the UK, I wonder what we'll see next?
Niamh Shackleton