Scientific explanation: The mystery of the green light that appeared in the sky over Syria yesterday

Some areas in northern and western Syria, particularly in Homs Governorate, witnessed the appearance of a mysterious green light in the sky last night, which sparked controversy and questions among residents and caused a noticeable uproar on social media, with numerous interpretations and speculations about the nature of this phenomenon.

A completely cloudy sky suggests that the light source is terrestrial.

Atmospheric data indicates that the sky over Homs Governorate and the surrounding areas was completely covered by clouds at the time the light appeared, a crucial factor in explaining the phenomenon. The presence of dense cloud cover prevents direct observation of any astronomical phenomena, making it more likely that the light resulted from a strong light source reflecting off the clouds.

This interpretation greatly weakens all other circulating hypotheses, and confirms that the source of light is not from space or the upper layers of the atmosphere, but from the Earth itself.

A satellite image from Eumetsat shows the dense cloud cover over northern and western Syria at the time of the phenomenon's formation.

Some users speculated that the light might be an aurora borealis, while others—based on responses from artificial intelligence tools—presumed it was a meteor burning up in the atmosphere. However, these explanations do not align with the available scientific data.

It is scientifically known that meteorites burn up within seconds or fractions of a second upon entering the atmosphere and cannot remain visible for as long as in this case. Furthermore, the aurora borealis is linked to solar activity and typically appears over wide areas and across a large geographical area, meaning that if it had occurred, it should have been visible in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Jordan, or Iraq, which it was not.

Accordingly, the scientific explanation suggests that the green light was the result of a terrestrial source—perhaps lighting from the city or some technical activity—which was reflected off the clouds, giving the impression of a strange phenomenon in the sky.

So far, there is no official confirmation of the nature of this source, but the available data strongly suggests that the light was not a meteor or an aurora borealis, and supports the hypothesis of light reflection as the most logical explanation for what happened.