Pilot Stunned By Mysterious Red Glow Over The Pacific That He's Never Seen Before

For passengers, the experience of peering out of an airplane window to admire the vast, changing landscapes below is often filled with wonder.

Yet, one would assume that for pilots, who traverse the same routes repeatedly, the sky holds few surprises.

However, in 2022, Dustin Maggard, a seasoned pilot, experienced a moment of sheer astonishment when he observed an eerie red glow illuminating the sky—a spectacle unlike anything he had encountered before.

Imagining the passengers' amazement at such a sight only adds to the intrigue of Maggard's discovery.

The sight was spotted over the Atlantic. Credit: Dustin Maggard

Speaking to CNN, Maggard shared his bewilderment: "We had no idea what we were looking at."

"We were making jokes about being in the middle of some sort of military exercise or some sort of alien invasion."

The sight was so unprecedented that it prompted a flurry of speculation and humor among the flight crew.

When Maggard decided to share the images on Reddit, the online community went into a frenzy.

The comments section exploded with theories, humor, and wild guesses about the origins of the mysterious glow. 

References to popular culture were inevitable, with one commenter quipping, "Dustin's trying to open up a portal to the upside down - It is literally a watergate."

Others made light of the situation, suggesting it was part of a promotional stunt for the TV show "Stranger Things" or even jokingly attributing it to extraterrestrial activity, with a self-proclaimed "History Channel watcher" declaring, "That's aliens."

Users on Reddit weighed in with possible explanations. Credit: Dustin Maggard

In the midst of this whirlwind of speculation, CNN sought the insight of an expert to shed light on the mystery.

Weather modeling specialist Neil Jacobs provided a grounded explanation, attributing the red glow to commercial fishing vessels targeting Pacific saury.

These vessels employ intensely bright red LED lights that are so powerful they're visible from space. 

"They were commercial fishing vessels that were fishing for Pacific saury using very bright red arrays of LED lights."

"You can literally see them from outer space," Jacobs clarified.

This radiance is the result of large arrays of red LED panels equipped by boats for Saury fishing. Credit: YouTube / Delta Electronics

This revelation debunked the more fantastical theories, proving the source of the glow to be far less supernatural than some had hoped. 

Interestingly, this was not the first sighting of such a phenomenon.

A similar event was reported in late August 2014 during a flight from Hong Kong to Anchorage.

As the flight passed over Alaska, passengers and crew were startled by an intense flash of light that seemed to erupt from the ground, akin to a more vivid and fleeting lightning bolt. 

Descriptions from a passenger highlighted the uniqueness of the event, noting it as unlike any thunderstorm, shooting star, or lightning they had ever witnessed.

About twenty minutes following the initial flash, a deep red/orange glow was observed, adding another layer to the mystery.

The potential causes for this spectacle ranged widely, from another instance of fishing fleets at work to the natural wonder of bioluminescent algae, or even undisclosed military operations.