KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (KHON) — A strange glow in the night sky over Hawaiʻi Island is raising eyebrows – and questions – after a Kona resident captured unusual green lights on camera over the weekend.
Jake Asuncion says he was filming sunset near Keahole Point when he unknowingly recorded the phenomenon. It wasn’t until he got home and reviewed the footage that he noticed a faint green glow appear in the sky.
“I got home, I was going to post it, and then towards the end of the video I saw the green come out—I said, what was that?” Asuncion said. He said he enhanced the color to show the movement.
Curious, he returned the following night—and saw it again.
“I wanted to go back the next night and see if I could capture the same thing—and it came out even more the second night,” he said.
He said the glow appeared roughly 15 to 20 minutes after sunset, looking northwest toward Maui. While faint to the naked eye, the green hue was more visible through his phone camera.
The sightings have caught the attention of local astronomers, including Nick Bradley with Stargazers of Hawaiʻi, who says the color resembles aurora, but likely isn’t.
“It looked very interesting. The green color looks like aurora, but honestly, we don’t really get that in Hawaiʻi,” Bradley explained.
Data from the weekend shows no significant geomagnetic storm activity that would produce aurora visible in the islands. The KP index—a measure used to track aurora strength—was only between 3 and 4. By comparison, a rare aurora visible in Hawaiʻi in 2024 required a KP index of 8.
Bradley says other common explanations don’t seem to match what was captured either.
“Satellites look like small pinpoint lights moving across the sky, we see them every night. This doesn’t look like that,” he said.
He also ruled out meteor showers, lasers, and the well-known “green flash” that sometimes occurs at sunset, noting the lights appeared well after the sun had already set and higher in the sky.
The Army said there were no lasers being used or any training in that area.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation said Kona airport used to have a laser bird hazing gun, but it was red and would not come close in scale to what is shown in the photos. Standard airport rotating beacons also would not have the scale as shown in the photos.
Keck Observatories suggest it could be STEVE or ‘strong thermal emissions velocity enhancement,’ which is similar to aurora but seen further south than aurora. But not as much is known about STEVE and it’s typically seen with aurora present.
Astronomers note that smartphone cameras can enhance colors in low-light conditions, meaning the green glow may appear brighter on video than in real life.
Still, the exact cause remains unknown — and experts are asking the public to keep an eye out and capture the moment if they can.
“I would love more eyes on it — more data, the better,” Bradley said.
As for Asuncion, he plans to keep watching the skies.
“I just appreciate the beauty of nature and whatever comes,” he said.
