China Flashed Mysterious Green Lasers Over Hawaii, NASA Says

But what were they doing?

China is most likely behind the mysterious green lights that were seen last month in the skies over Hawaii.

The Chinese pollution-monitoring satellite Daqi-1 probably produced the lights spotted over Hawaii on January 28, according to a NASA scientist. The comments apparently put to rest earlier theories that the lights were coming from a U.S. satellite.

The lights were first seen during a live stream. Footage from the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera, which is situated on the Mauna Kea volcano, showed the line of green light quickly flashing across the sky.

On Jan 28, 2023, HST, Subaru-Asahi Star Camera captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawai`i. The lights are thought to be from a remote-sensing altimeter satellite ICESAT-2/43613.Watch the video:https://t.co/xqoJvSa24s#SubaruTelescope pic.twitter.com/5hhIsewuNp

A week after the incident, experts at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), which co-owns the camera, claimed on Twitter that the green light originated from radar on the NASA satellite ICESat-2. But a week later, NAOJ revised its theory, saying that based on the trajectory, it was unlikely the lights were coming from NASA's satellite after all.

The Daqi-1 was launched in April. The satellite has LIDAR (laser imaging, detection, and ranging) for detecting atmospheric aerosols and carbon dioxide. Daqi-1 also measures nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and fine particle pollution. Lidar uses laser beams for mapping, and it's believed that these lasers illuminated the sky over Hawaii in January.

The Daqi-1 isn't the only satellite using LIDAR to monitor Earth. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) has been orbiting for more than 15 years. The CALIPSO's High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) provided the first global observations of the North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom.

Early NASA experiments proved the value of orbiting LIDAR. For example, the LITE (Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment) was used in 1994 as the first LIDAR system for atmospheric studies from space. The instrument was positioned in the payload bay of Space Shuttle Discovery, measured Earth's cloud cover, and tracked various particles in the atmosphere.

The green lights are part of a wave of sightings of mysterious objects in the sky. The U.S. Air Force has shot down four flying objects in recent weeks. One of the UFOs has been identified as a Chinese spy balloon. Two other aerial objects have still not been identified, but at least one of them was probably a civilian balloon.

Sascha Brodsky, a freelance journalist based in New York City and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, writes about many aspects of technology including personal technology, AI, and virtual reality. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and many other publications. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling and hiking.

Why Hunks of Space Junk Are ‘Ticking Time Bombs’

Solar Sails May Be the Future of Space Exploration

Nasa Is Tracking a Dent in Our Magnetic Field

Scientists Call For A Space "High Seas" Treaty

China Wants to Compete with Starlink

Shady Russian Satellite Breaks in Earth's Orbit

Satellite Brighter Than Some Stars Irks Scientists

The ISS Just Swerved Some Russian Space Junk

The Truth About the Black Knight Satellite

This Radar Satellite Will Monitor Earth's 'Lungs'

It Sure Looks Like Russia Launched a Spy Satellite

On Neptune and Uranus, Diamonds Rain From the Sky