PINK sky at night?! Odd reason for unearthly glow over Aussie town
<p dir="ltr">Residents in the northern Victorian town of Mildura experienced an intriguing Wednesday night when the night sky was lit up with an eerie pink glow.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It was very bizarre,” said Tammy Szumowski.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I was on the phone to my mum, and my dad was saying the world was ending.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Though it looked like aliens or a portal to another universe could be behind it, the explanation for the mysterious light is firmly within reality. Pharmaceutical company Cann Group confirmed that the lights originated from its local medicinal cannabis facility, which had left its blackout blinds open.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mildura?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mildura</a> and surrounds were treated to a spectacular sight tonight when a red light appeared in the sky.<br />Was it aliens?<br />An aurora?<br />No, it appears to have been the hydroponic lights from a medicinal cannabis farm reflecting off cloud which is somehow the most Mildura answer ever. <a href="https://t.co/Wfy63tRrng">pic.twitter.com/Wfy63tRrng</a></p>
<p>— Sarah Tomlinson (@sarah_tomlinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/sarah_tomlinson/status/1549381096587964416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“Cannabis plants require different spectrums of light in order to encourage their growth,” said Rhys Cohen, senior communications manager at Cann Group Ltd.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“A red spectrum light is often used. Normally the facility would have blackout blinds that come down at night, and will in the future block that glow.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dr Anne Webster, the federal member for Mallee, was driving home in the dark when she noticed the pink light.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I thought that is weird. There is no city out there … What is it?” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“When I understood the Cann processing site is there – but it still was the first time I’ve seen that pink glow. It was quite strange.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr">Photos of the lights quickly spread on social media, with ABC Chief of Staff Sarah Tomlinson describing the fact it came from a medical cannabis facility as “somehow the most Mildura answer ever”.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/JaneBunn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaneBunn</a> any reports of this scary but brilliant sky over Mildura tonight ?? <a href="https://t.co/3WZ7FZj1zp">pic.twitter.com/3WZ7FZj1zp</a></p>
<p>— Tim Green (@Tim_Green78) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tim_Green78/status/1549326548502970369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mildura, Australia: Is it a plane.. an UFO... Superman? Turns out someone forgot to close the blinds at a Cannabis farm. <a href="https://t.co/HaokIwJn2c">pic.twitter.com/HaokIwJn2c</a></p>
<p>— Jürgen "jkr" Kraus (@jkr_on_the_web) <a href="https://twitter.com/jkr_on_the_web/status/1550201444699017216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">La Trobe University also joined in on the fun, tweeting: “We can neither confirm, nor deny, that the mysterious lights over Mildura were <em>Aurora marijuanis</em>.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Mildura facility gathered its first commercial harvest of marijuana crops in June, after Cann Group - the first Australian company licensed to grow the crop for medicinal and research purposes - acquired the site in 2019.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dr Webster described it as “quite an exciting site”, though its exact location is a secret and isn’t open to the public due to the nature of its business.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Propagation of cannabis is really interesting and the way they use lights … to increase the growth cycle and speed up the whole process is quite amazing,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I look forward to many other innovative producers coming to the region and bringing their glows with them.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>
