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Pink glow over London
Shocking pink: the scary looking light

U.F.Glow: Mysterious pink light over London

Georgina Littlejohn
21 Oct 2008


Londoners were left baffled today when a strange pink light appeared over the capital.

The alien-like cloud glowed brightly over the streets of Mayfair in the early morning. It hovered over buildings before breaking up and slowly disappearing.

But after dismissing theories of UFOs and atmospheric phenomenons, the Met Office said the blob was likely to be nothing more than the lights of the city reflected in a cloud.

A spokesman said: "If you have very high cloud, as we did last night, you tend to get odd splodges of low cloud that will ref lect the pink or sometimes orangey-pink lights of the city from all angles and stand out from the darkness of the sky.

"It can be truly spectacular to witness."

Reader views (31)

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i see these pink lights in area 51

- pescude, north fort myers, florida usa, 03/07/2011 14:43
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I have to tell everyone that I have seen this light in exactly the same position on three of the last eight evenings after 6pm each time and each time in Regent Street, by Oxford Circus.
I do have a picture, only taken on my mobile phone so its not great and if anyone wants to tell me how to upload it I will.

- Joe, London, 22/02/2009 19:41
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A cloud? Who on earth believes that? Not sure what it is but if it is an alien ship, I hope they are not hostile. Cause we aren't prepared.

- Roshan, Kochi, India, 09/11/2008 16:56
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Well, sorry but I'm not buying this.... "the Met Office said the blob was likely to be nothing more than the lights of the city reflected in a cloud" That sounds like utter rubbish if ever I heard it, street lights NEVER do that wherever you are in the world. I've often seen beautiful colours in a summer evening sky, red, orange etc, (CAUSED BY "THE SUN" NOT STREETLIGHTS) this here is a whole pink cloud and in no way do I think this is caused by any street lights, that's just silly talk. Do we ever get told the truth about anything any more? I think not. Just believe your own truth, that's the best policy. Peace to you all.

- Jimmy, Bolton, UK., 24/10/2008 02:51
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@ Operation Bluebeam

Oh for the love of...put your tinfoil hat back on and crawl back into your bunker and leave the sanity to the pros...

This is all a bunch of hog wash.

- Me, USA., 24/10/2008 00:27
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While we're at it, what's the little green thing just to the right of the tower?

Faulty camera perhaps? Any more pictures taken from elsewhere?

- Major Dipwinger, Spookyville., 23/10/2008 21:35
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I've seen clouds get orange here at night... or even dark red... but not just ONE cloud, EVERY cloud does it fromt he light pollution.

- Ryan Mercer, Speedway, IN USA, 23/10/2008 11:15
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Genuine or not, people need to get clued up about Operation Bluebeam. Google it!

- Scott, billingham, 23/10/2008 09:39
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There should be thousands of pictures in different angles from London.

- Gus, SWEDEN, 23/10/2008 08:22
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If the clouds can reflect the lights from the city, then someone clearly must have painted the town PINK.
Amazing sight, wished i was there

- Reb, Singapore, 23/10/2008 06:10
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If it is a natural atmospheric phenomenon, then why the !!!!!!! haven't we heard of it before?
Official explanations will always be more ridicule than the fact that they can't explain something.
Just talk about cloud, add a bit of reflection thing, then mix with a spoon of ice crystal, and voilà! You can explain anything that disturbs you view of the world.

- Fred, Montreal, Canada, 23/10/2008 06:00
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Pink is a lovely colour from our friendly galactic visitors, not scary at all, I want them to come here too!

- Patrick, Nelson, NZ, 23/10/2008 03:09
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Come on people! Never in my life have I ever seen such an event in the clouds. I haven't even heard anything about this in the states on any of the news stations. Seems to me that the governments really just don't want us to know.

- Andre, Sellersburg, IN USA, 23/10/2008 02:05
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Look at the shape and concentration of this. Sharp pink against ordinary clouds. Why doesn't the media stop the nonsense and once and for all tell people the truth rather than hiding facts because of fear. Keep looking up, more is on the way! Peace and Love. Namaste

- Irene, Honesdale, PA, USA, 23/10/2008 01:12
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Well, there's a first for everything. You'd think that a major city with light & atmospheric variations so common all times throughout the year, would have experienced this at least once before!? Maybe the clouds are becoming more susceptible to this type of phenomena due to pollution, chem trails etc

OR

this could be of that truthfull feeling that our ancient ancestors are easing the world into the fact that 'they' are here!

- Matthew, Adelaide, Australia, 22/10/2008 23:01
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Anya, Bronx, NY: "I hope it IS a UFO from another planet/dimension, maybe it will smack some sense into people who normally wouldn't give it a second thought that perhaps there is something bigger out there than paying the mortgage and trudging to a job they hate five days a week."

Amen a thousand times over, sister.

- Kyla, Maine, USA, 22/10/2008 22:38
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If the strange phenomenon was caused by city lights being reflected off a cloud, why havn't we ever seen it before anywhere?

- Chris, United States, 22/10/2008 22:28
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I saw a cloud too, it was nice... it landed on my lawn and little men came out. I told them they were only a hallucination, a trick of light. I slapped one of them just to prove that its just a mirage. He honked! They looked at each other beeped a few times and then hurried into the cloud that lifted off, that for a moment I would swear looked shiny and metallic underneath the cloud. Oh well... reflections of city lights can do such illusions I guess. :-)

- Spock, Area 51, 22/10/2008 22:27
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"Luminescent pink light reflected in a cloud" ...wake up sheeple. Something's about to change in our world, the wheels are in motion.

- Davo, Adelaide, South Australia, 22/10/2008 22:11
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it is a 14-10-2008 lightship one week late.

- André, Tilburg Nederland, 22/10/2008 14:08
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UFO's use magnetism to travel through space at speeds greater than those of light and electricity. Earth's magnetism is being prepared.

- Wok, Belgium, 22/10/2008 12:17
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Why only last week I saw purple, yellow and luminous green clouds. An everyday event.

- Robert, Hedemora, Sweden, 22/10/2008 10:06
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The increased reporting of UFO sightings in the mass media - get ready for something big people, and do not be fooled by it. Amazing what audio-visual technology the military has at its disposal.

- Patrick, Singapore, 22/10/2008 02:52
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Hadron Collider side effects.

- Oracle, London, England., 22/10/2008 01:06
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If it was lights, then surely they can dis spell any rumours and release information about the exact source of this "reflection". Much like the mentioned associated lights in other articles which were said to have come from a Tina Turner concert. If and they quite probably are, but if these were lights, then where did they come from?

- Samantha, Manchester Cheshire, 21/10/2008 23:17
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This is plea from Mother Nature to change our ways. Its a rose cloud representing the need for enduring love in our relationship with planet Earth.

- Chrissie, Ware, UK, 21/10/2008 22:40
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Certainly not a reflection and totally bizarre.

- M Richard, London, 21/10/2008 18:47
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Aliens are taking an interest in London now that the fall in house prices makes owning a property affordable. They are the great green hope for the property market.

- Tom, UK, 21/10/2008 18:17
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This is an example of what you might call a 'brushing under the carpet'.
How on earth could light be reflected on to a cloud and make that clear color.
Any one ever seen that before ....no..??
Me neither. That is no cloud. But how many people will be content with the weak excuse "the Met Office said the blob was likely to be nothing more than the lights of the city reflected in a cloud."
And how many will use their own mind to question this?

- Jack, London, 21/10/2008 16:40
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That is the lamest excuse for an explanation I have ever heard. Hot flaming pink (and I am an artist, I know) WILL NOT be reflected that strongly as a color. It would be far less "hot" in color, it would be more pastel-looking if it were "reflections" of lights. It's impossible optically, as well as in terms of color transference. Impossible. It's beautiful, though- why do they call it "scary"? I would love if the clouds were that lovely all the time! Not that they already aren't!

I hope it IS a UFO from another planet/dimension, maybe it will smack some sense into people who normally wouldn't give it a second thought that perhaps there is something bigger out there than paying the mortgage and trudging to a job they hate five days a week.

- Anya, Bronx, NY, 21/10/2008 15:45
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Doesn't look like city light reflections to me. Doesn't even look much like a cloud.

- Isabel, Woking, 21/10/2008 14:57
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