Residents in Milan have been left perplexed by the sudden appearance of a mystery ring of lights in the sky.
‘A strange phenomenon, lights in the sky #Aliens’ one user posted, sharing a video of the lightshow above the city from December 27.
Another shared a photo of the sky captioned ‘What are these strange lights in the sky of Milan? Aliens? Inhuman? A portal to Krakoa? A stargate?’
The lights were seen high above the trees in Milan, reported since at least December 24
In the end, the truth was the simplest explanation. The lightshow was emanating from a 20,000 square-metre (215,278.21 sq-ft) Christmas village in the city.
Cielo di #Milano 27/12/2023 Fenomeno strano Luci del cielo #Alieni #UFO #milano_oggi #ميلانو اضواء غريبة في سماء ميلانو الليلة 27/12/2023 pic.twitter.com/aTQSBiQKUE
— Kerolos Helmy (@KerolosKest) December 27, 2023
Situated near CityLife, a residential and commercial hub in the city, the Christmas village is a huge attraction featuring a food hall, a skating rink and themed activites.
The lights in the sky were, in fact, powerful lasers projected onto the sky from the event in the Allianz MiCo.
‘Il Parco di Natale’ claims to be the biggest of its kind in Italy, running the whole month from December 7 until January 7.
It hosts stunning light displays, including the Star Cloud, a ‘veritable suspended wave of brilliant lights that shimmer as you pass by’ and brightly-lit laser performances, seen online.
The city of Milan was seen lit up with fantastic festive effects this month, presenting spectacular lightshows around the city in the run up to Christmas.
In September, mystery lights were seen in the sky above Morocco before the country was hit by a devastating earthquake, similarly leaving onlookers confused.
Blue lights were seen flashing above Agadir at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, hours before the 6.8 magnitude tremor struck.
The clips could not be verified – but some speculated they could be ‘earthquake lights’, a rare phenomenon believed to take place in times of seismic stress.
There is no clear consensus on what causes earthquake lights, but there have been reports of them appearing in the sky before tremors since 869ad.
Christmas decorations in Milan, Italy on December 6 as the city bustled with tourists
Rowers paddle as Christmas lights illuminate the Naviglio Grande canal, in Milan, December 14
Like the lights in Milan, reports say they are shaped like auroras with a white-bluish colour.
Some were caught on camera during the 2022 Fukushima earthquake, seen from various angles.
Earthquake lights were also filmed during the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, which left thousands dead in February.