Two viral TikTok videos are claiming that the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights were seen across Pasay City last week. This is not true. The pink lights were a reflection from a nearby building.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said such a phenomenon has not occurred and cannot happen in the country.
Uploaded on May 13, one video bore this caption:
“Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights in the Philippines”
Another clip uploaded that same day had a superimposed text that read:
“Ang creepy ng kalangitan (The sky looks creepy). Aurora Borealis in the Philippines.”
In a May 16 phone call with VERA Files Fact Check, PAGASA weather observer Lordnico Mendoza said,”‘Yung nakita doon sa video na parang pinkish or violet na color hindi siya aurora. Kung mapapansin niyo kasi nasa harapan siya ng [Mall of Asia] Arena. Sa likod nandoon ‘yung mga building may nakita ko doong building na color pink. So it’s a reflection of lights coming from that building (What was seen in the video that looked like pinkish or violet colors are not Aurora. If you would notice, it was taken in front of the Mall of Asia Arena. At the back of it, I saw a building with pink lights. So it’s a reflection of lights coming from that building).”
Two other videos from the same location showed that the mall’s facade is lit up in pink lights. Mendoza added that such lights do not exhibit properties and the appearance of auroras:
“‘Yung color noong sinasabi niyang Aurora is nasa clouds. So never mapupunta ang Aurora sa clouds kasi it’s a different mechanism. Saka steady lang ‘yung kulay, ‘yung Auroras kasi wave-like ‘yung kanyang appearance
(The color of the supposed aurora is in the clouds. Auroras will never be present in the clouds since it’s a different mechanism. Its color is also steady, unlike auroras that have a wave-like appearance).”
The state weather bureau also said that conditions needed for an aurora are not present in the country because it is located near the equator where the earth’s magnetic field is weak.
According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, auroras are produced when geomagnetic storms hit the earth.
Geomagnetic storms occur when the sun releases plasma and magnetic fields. When these reach the earth’s magnetic fields, it interacts with gases in the atmosphere creating different colors in the sky.
Because the earth’s magnetic field is strongest in the polar regions, auroras are usually visible in countries in the arctic and antarctic circles.
The video emerged amid a spate of aurora sightings across the United States, Canada and Europe after the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades happened on May 11.
Uploaded by TikTok users @sirenasiana and @indayseaman29, the videos have over 3.9 million views, 304,300 likes and 5,943 comments.
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