Case file · Sighting
Starfish Prime sky over Honolulu
On 9 July 1962 a US nuclear warhead exploded 400 km above Johnston Atoll; in Honolulu, 1,400 km away, the sky glowed red and green and streetlights failed.
1962 CE · 16.73, -169.53 · status: explained
The account
People in Hawaiʻi watched an artificial aurora for minutes. The blast damaged several satellites and created radiation belts that lasted for years. Such tests left a legacy of strange lights in Pacific skies.