Why Was the Sky Glowing Pink in Central New York?

What The Heck Was That Pink Light?

If you were driving through Central New York and noticed a giant pink glow lighting up the sky, you weren't imagining things.

People started posting pictures on social media asking the obvious question: What the heck is that?

Was it the Northern Lights? A really weird sunset? Some kind of giant pink spotlight? Maybe Central New York was finally getting its own version of Vegas?

Stacy Brown

It Wasn't The Northern Lights

Stacy Brown even sent in pictures from the Thruway and said she initially thought it was a sunset.

“I was heading west that's why I thought it was a sunset at first, and then the closer I got the brighter it got and it was off to the left.”

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That pretty much sums up what a lot of people were thinking. The closer you got, the stranger—and brighter—it looked.

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Stacy Brown

So What Was It?

Turns out, there was no mysterious sky phenomenon happening. It looks like the pink glow was coming from Green Empire Farms in the Wampsville area.

The massive greenhouse operation uses specialized lighting to help grow produce year-round. The greenhouse is enormous and its lighting can create quite a glow in the surrounding sky.

Apparently, somebody changed up the greenhouse lights, and suddenly it looked like Central New York had installed a giant pink night-light.

Google Maps

Central New York Had Questions

So, mystery solved. No aliens. No surprise sunset. No Central New York version of the Aurora Borealis.

Just a really big greenhouse making the sky look very, very pink.