Strange orange vertical light in night sky spotted at Lower Delta and Yishun: 'Likely the Eye of Sauron'

What was it?

A mysterious orange vertical sliver of light was seen in the night sky in different parts of Singapore on Dec 10 evening.

Stomper Jailani shared a photo taken at Block 48 Lower Delta Road of the ominous sight, which he joked was "likely the Eye of Sauron" from The Lord Of The Rings movies.

"We were outside our unit and noticed the red light glowing in the sky. It disappeared after a while," recounted the Stomper.

"I only managed to snap a pic of it as the phone quality was not that good."

Stomper Prakash took a video of what he called a "rare aerial phenomenon" in Yishun.

He said it looked similar to something he read about in a 2022 article by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).

He wondered: "Could this be a sprite? An upper-atmospheric electrical phenomenon?"

According to the Nasa article, "sprites" occur at some 80km altitude, high above thunderstorms.

"They appear moments after a lightning strike – a sudden reddish flash that can take a range of shapes, often combining diffuse plumes and bright, spiny tendrils. Some sprites tend to dance over the storms, turning on and off one after another," said the article.

"Many questions about how and why they form remain unanswered."

A photo of the strange light was also posted in the CloudSpotting & SkySpotting Singapore Facebook group on the same night.

Apart from the expected jokes about Sauron, aliens and Stargate in the comments, someone said it was a reflected image of the flame from a refinery tower in Johor Bahru, which is the most down-to-earth explanation.

Stomp has previously reported sightings of a burning glow in the Singapore sky, which were attributed to a flare tower either in Pengerang, Johor, in the east or Jurong Island in the west.