Did You See That Weird Red Light In The Houston Sky? Here's What It Was

A bright, red light lit up the Houston sky on Wednesday (March 23) night. But what the heck was it?!

According to KHOU, Houston residents on the east side of town in Friendswood, League City and Santa Fe started to share photos and videos of the mysterious light around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. But not even 45 minutes later, it was gone.

After hours of speculation on the Internet, the National Weather Service - Houston provided a viable answer Thursday about what the peculiar red vertical light was. They tweeted Thursday: "How cool is this!? 'Light pillars' from flares in La Porte were observed last night. This is an uncommon optical phenomenon for Southeast TX."

KHOU meteorologist Tim Pandajis mirrored this theory. He said it could be a light flaring from a nearby refinery. The only kink in this theory is that the light was at a high altitude, which normally wouldn't be the case for a flare light, but Pandajis chief meteorologist David Paul said the red light could have been the flaring since the clouds in the sky Wednesday night were very reflective.

A LyondellBasell plant in La Porte told KHOU it was "undergoing activities that would result in periodic flaring":

"You may notice a bright orange flame, black smoke or a rumbling noise. There is no danger to our community or workers ... no need to take any action. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."