Some photos are currently circulating on social media that purport to show some kind of jet of fire or light shooting towards the earth (or vice versa). What exactly was going on?

We received this screenshot as a request:

Screenshot Mimikama.at
Screenshot Mimikama.at

“Taken in Athens! As if something was shooting from the sky to the earth!”

The place

We can say that the creator of that post is lying: These recordings come from the state of Michigan in the USA, taken in January 2018.
How do we know this? We'll tell you right away!

The photos

Here we see three photos that were posted in this context:

Screenshot Mimikama.at
Screenshot Mimikama.at

Now we have to unravel a little:
On the same evening there was also a meteor crash in Michigan . Many users now linked the recordings and images of the meteor crash with the images of the beam. according to measurements, the meteor crashed on North Groesbeck Hwy., southwest of New Haven and north of Sterling Heights and Mount Clemens, but at least the first image shows the meteor crash.

The third image shows nothing related to the meteor or the jet, but rather a truck fire in Taylor, Michigan.

The images were posted and distributed on Facebook by a video producer. He has since deleted his original post, which was shared over 37,000 times, after several people pointed out to him that the images were unrelated. A day later, however, he posted memes about it.

Screenshot Facebook
Screenshot Facebook

Video producer… are the pictures maybe fake?

That's what you probably suspect at first, but the pictures weren't taken by the producer himself, but come from different sources, so he most likely did n't edit .

And then what is that in the pictures?

This is a weather phenomenon called “pillars of light”.

A light column is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in the form of a vertical band of light that appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is caused by the reflection of light from numerous small ice crystals floating in the atmosphere or in clouds. The light can come from the sun (usually near or even below the horizon). It can also come from the moon or from terrestrial sources such as street lights.

Incidentally, this phenomenon can be observed more often in Austria, here is an example on the “ MeinBezirk.at ” website:

Screenshot meinkreis.at
Screenshot meinkreis.at

Or here :

Screenshot Magix
Screenshot Magix

Conclusion

The pictures are not from Athens, but from Michigan/USA. There is no “pillar of fire” to be seen in the pictures, but rather a weather phenomenon that occurs particularly in the cold winter months and is called the “pillar of light”. The explosion seen in the first image is a meteor hitting the ground, the brightness of which created one of these columns of light on the cold January night.


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )