What Were Those Flashing Lights Over Fort Collins?!
✨ The Night the Sky Put on a Show
Happy Monday, FoCo fam,
If you looked up last night and thought, “Okay… that’s new,” you weren’t alone. Photos of strange vertical lights started popping up across Fort Collins, and speculation spread fast—from searchlights to something a little more… sci-fi. Before your group chat goes full X-Files, let’s break down what everyone was actually seeing.
Did you notice the mysterious light pillars over Fort Collins?
Click an option to vote
🌬️ So… What Was That Flashing Light?
Photo by u/Lazy-Refrigerator328
Those glowing columns weren’t coming from the sky—they were being reflected into it. What Fort Collins experienced was a classic (and rare) winter phenomenon called light pillars.
Here’s how it works in plain English:
• During very cold, calm nights, tiny ice crystals float in the air.
• These crystals act like tiny mirrors.
• When light from the ground (streetlights, parking lots, industrial lights, or even cars) hits them, it reflects straight upward—creating a vertical beam.
Why was one of them flashing?
That’s where things got extra dramatic.
A light pillar will copy whatever the light source is doing. If the source is moving or changing, the pillar will too. Common causes include:
• A rotating or oscillating light (think airport or security lighting)
• A vehicle with bright headlights hitting bumps or changing angles
• Multiple nearby lights reflecting at slightly different times
From miles away, that movement looks like a pillar turning on and off in the sky—even though it’s completely grounded.
Why Fort Collins, and why now?
We had the perfect combo:
• Sub-freezing temps
• Still air (no wind to knock the ice crystals around)
• Plenty of ground lighting
Not dangerous. Not supernatural. Just FoCo flexing its winter science muscles.
🐐 Rocky Heard You…
He saw what you were excited about this week — and he decided to share a few can’t-miss events over on Instagram. If you like visuals, behind-the-scenes moments, and quick hits of what’s happenin’, this one’s for you.
📸 See what he’s sharing → 📍 Fort Collins
Give it a tap, a like, or a share — Rocky notices 👀
What's Happenin' in Fort Collins
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Which spot serves the bowl you swear by? Let’s crown Fort Collins’ Best Soup. 🥣✨
👋 Until the Next Sky Surprise…
Fort Collins never misses a chance to keep things interesting—even when it’s just ice crystals and streetlights doing their thing. If you snapped a photo of the lights, hit reply and send it our way—we might feature it in a future issue.
Keep the recs coming, keep voting, and if you’ve got a park, trail, or tiny green space you think belongs on the shortlist, just hit reply. I read every single one.
Until then, keep looking up… you never know what this town will throw at the sky next.
— Ben
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