Is Video of Lasers Shooting Down from Space Real? Yes, and China's Likely Behind That, Too
China is likely responsible for a bizarre aerial phenomenon in Hawaii, according to a report published over the weekend.
Residents of Hawaii's Big Island witnessed green laser lights shooting down from the sky late last month, the New York Post reported Saturday.
Video of the incident shows projected lights that appear to the naked eye to be manmade.
WATCH 🚨 Suspected Chinese satellite reportedly shoots wall of mysterious green lasers down to earth, spotted over Hawaii pic.twitter.com/k8ORTVsWgZ
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 9, 2023
Experts believe they know who -- or what -- is responsible for the green lights.
In the caption of the video published to YouTube, personnel of the Subaru Asahi Star Camera -- a Japanese facility operated on Mauna Kea, Hawaii -- indicated that the Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite was the likely source of the lights.
The astronomers initially indicated an American satellite -- NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2 -- was responsible. However, NASA scientists familiar with the satellite in question carried out simulations that pointed to the Chinese satellite as the likely source.
[firefly_poll]
"According to Dr. Martino, Anthony J., a NASA scientist working on ICESat-2 ATLAS, it is not by their instrument but by others," the Japanese astronomers wrote.
"His colleagues ... did a simulation of the trajectory of satellites that have a similar instrument and found a most likely candidate as the ACDL instrument by the Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite."
"We really appreciate their efforts in the identification of the light."
A University of Hawaii astronomer described the Daqi-1 satellite as a craft that measures pollution in the atmosphere, according to KHON-TVÂ in Honolulu.
“It’s a Chinese satellite that is measuring pollutants, among other things,” Roy Gal of the university's Institute of Astronomy told the station.
“It has many different instruments on it … Some kind of topographical mapping or they’re also used for measuring stuff in Earth’s atmosphere, and I think that’s what it is, environmental measurement satellite.”
However, others aren't convinced the satellite's projection is entirely benign.
“I’m not sure, and this is my opinion, why the Chinese — who are probably some of the most prolific polluters on the planet — would be collecting data on pollutants on this side of the Pacific,” Ray Hereux, a former Marine Corps officer who served as chief of staff of Marine Forces Pacific, told KHON.
Both men said the Chinese satellite was not a spying device "explicitly" -- KHON's word. It noted that the satellite is "cataloged and known by governments around the world."
However, the projection occurred on Jan. 28 -- the same day a Chinese surveillance balloon entered U.S airspace at the Aleutian Islands, according to The Associated Press.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
