Tourists flock to Las Vegas for its many entertainment options, including its visual attractions, which take many forms.
The performing arts are a big part of the experience. Cirque du Soleil at Bellagio Resort & Casino, operated by MGM Resorts International (MGM) – Get a free reportit is an example of extravagant entertainment that thrills the crowds.
Famous acts such as Adele, the Maroon 5, the B-52s, Aerosmith and country stars like Luke Bryan and Garth Brooks perform in the city.
The 4.2-mile stretch that makes up the Las Vegas Strip features attractions like Caesars Entertainment’s (CZR) – Get a free report The Eiffel Tower at Caesars Paris Las Vegas, the Statue of Liberty at MGM’s New York New York and the popular fountains in front of the Bellagio.
Other visitor attractions are plentiful. Professional sports franchises such as the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Nights and the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders play home games in the city.
And, of course, the ever-present options such as gambling, including slot machines, card games, sports betting, and other activities, are sources of fun that also entertain visitors.
Las Vegas visitors see something completely amazing
But an unexpected sight stunned Las Vegas over the holidays.
Tourists’ attention was drawn to the night sky on December 23, when many visitors to Sin City thought they were witnessing something they had never expected and never seen before: UFOs.
Alien ships, some thought, hovered over the city.
“There’s a #UFO over Sapphire Las Vegas right now!” wrote Twitter user @HotHeadBrett, adding a video to his tweet.
“UFOs over the Las Vegas Strip?” he tweeted @mightypadula, while she posted a video of her own.
So what was the phenomenon being witnessed?
Turns out the explanation was related to the wild weather system that roared across the country over the weekend. It involved a weather activity known as a pillar of light.
“Long, multicolored pillars of light streaking across the sky seem like the perfect backdrop for an impending alien invasion, but in reality, pillars of light are a common effect that can be found all over the world,” explains the National Weather Service. on your website.
“They come from above, not aliens, but small ice crystals that hang in the atmosphere,” the explanation continues. “Ice is very thin, shaped like plates with hexagonal faces. When ice descends through the air, it falls almost horizontally. At the top and bottom are the faces with the most area. Ice is highly reflective, so when the light falls on the widest, most expensive ones, bounces off and is reflected by more ice crystals”.
So what people were witnessing was simply the bright lights of Sin City reflected from weather activity in the sky.
“That means we have these vertically stacked mirrors floating in the atmosphere,” the National Weather Service further explains. “The light that hits it reflects up and up (or down and down, depending on the source) and becomes a radiant column in the sky. Light can come from the sun, moon, cities, street lights, any source of strong light..”
Visitors to Las Vegas were able to experience the city’s bright and colorful light show in a rare new way: on the ground and in the mystery of its reflection from above.