A video making its rounds on social media reportedly captured an extremely rare phenomenon that shows a beam of light waving around above the clouds.
The anomaly, known as a “crown flash,” occurs when changing electrical fields within a thunderstorm realign the ice crystals above the cloud, according to the meteorological website Meteored. The crystals then reflect sunlight in what appear to be spotlight beams.
The crown flash was first described in 1885 by the Monthly Weather Review, according to Guinness World Records.
?#INFO: A Crown flash is an extremely rare weather event, as it was first described in 1885. It appears as a bright spot in the sky above thunderstorms, similar to a parhelion, but with shifting beams and loops of light. Tho it is not clear to scientists what causes this…
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 29, 2023
Despite cameras now being found on almost every phone, there are actually very few recordings of the sight.
Meteorologist James Spann posted a video of the phenomenon Friday, noting that it was recently “spotted over Miami Beach” in Florida.
Spotted over Miami Beach today… video from Leland Randleman. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/2BBiFCyC6g
— James Spann (@spann) April 28, 2023
The nearly minute-long clip posted on Twitter appears to show a beam of light shining above the clouds, almost as if someone was waving around a flashlight.
The video quickly made it’s rounds across social media, with other experts confirming it was a crown flash. Still, the phenomenon stumped many.
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