Residents in the Australian town of Mildura were left puzzled on Wednesday after the evening sky was filled with a strange pink glow.
Photos posted on social media show how the dim, cloudy sky was illuminated with a bright pink circle. There also appeared to be a cone of light directed upwards from the ground, suggesting that the pink light had a ground-based source.
The phenomenon sparked jokes from a couple of observers, including references to aliens or the popular paranormal drama series Stranger Things.
However, it wasn't long before residents had an answer: The pink glow was coming from a nearby cannabis farm owned by the pharmaceutical company Cann Group.
"Locals were treated to a bit of a light show last night while we were testing one of the new cultivation zones at our facility. We can confidently say this was not a solar flare or an interdimensional portal," the Cann Group confirmed on Twitter.
Cannabis plants need different spectrums of light in order to encourage their growth. For instance, red light is often used in the flowering stage to encourage plants to grow tall and to help promote budding.
Hoping to clear up some of the confusion, Cann Group CEO Peter Crock spoke to ABC News on Thursday morning.
"It's a brand new facility that's just become operational this year—really exciting and state-of-the-art technology," he told the channel.
"We use LED lights in the facility [...] and we were testing a new room that's come into commission just yesterday. The lights normally shut down at sunset. We were testing the systems and they didn’t shut down at sunset, but the lights did go off at 7 o’clock when we put the cannabis to sleep normally."
Cann Group Ltd was the first Australian company to secure licences for cannabis cultivation for medicinal and research purposes.
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