A video of a passenger’s stunning view from above has amazed users on TikTok, where it has 97,800 views at the time of writing.
The clip was posted on September 16 by @bymicheleyu with a caption saying “19 hour plane ride from NYC to Singapore had a surprise for us.” The passenger was traveling on a night flight with Singapore Airlines, according to a later comment.
A message overlaid on the video reads: “Northern Lights on the longest flight in the world.” The world’s current longest flight, which runs between New York and Singapore, has reportedly been operated by Singapore Airlines for more than a decade.
The latest footage shows a woman seated on a plane before flashes of the bright green lights are shown painted across a dark night sky, with a portion of the plane wing also in view.
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Where Can I See the Northern Lights?
Also known as aurora borealis, the northern lights result from electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.
The Space Weather Prediction Center of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says: “In these collisions, the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere thus exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states. When they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light. This is similar to how a neon light works.”
The northern lights can often be viewed “somewhere on Earth” from either just after sunset or just before sunrise. They aren’t visible during daylight hours.
They typically form from around 80 to 500 kilometers (50 to 300 miles) above the Earth’s surface, but can also be seen from as much as 1,000 kilometers away “when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right,” says the NOAA.
According to the NOAA, the Earth’s magnetic field “guides the electrons such that the aurora forms two ovals approximately centered at the magnetic poles. During major geomagnetic storms these ovals expand away from the poles such that aurora can be seen over most of the United States.
“When space weather activity increases and more frequent and larger storms and substorms occur, the aurora extends equatorward. During large events, the aurora can be observed as far south as the U.S., Europe, and Asia,” the NOAA says.
Northern Lights Spotted ‘By Accident’
In later comments, the original poster said she caught these northern lights “by accident” while the plane was flying in the area between Svalbard in Norway and Norilsk in Russia. She said the lights were on display for at least 35 minutes, according to the timestamps on her photos.
The passenger also noted that she was seated in premium economy class on the left side of the plane, facing north. When user272525271 asked what flight number it was, the original poster replied: “This is SQ21/SQ23 taking the Great Circle Route. From what I read it doesn’t always take this route and it depends on the time of year/jet stream.”
The original poster said she assumes the pilot and cabin crew did not make any announcements alerting passengers about the northern lights display because “most were sleeping,” according to her later comments.
The passenger said: “My mom and I were absolutely freaking out while everyone else slept totally unbothered.”
‘Unreal Experience’
Several TikTok users were left speechless by the images of the incredible northern lights display in the latest video.
User daintypotat0 said: “OMGGG ITS SO BRIGHT.” The original poster replied: “It really was!!! It was slowly waving like a ribbon, I was SHOCKED. I’ve tried a few times on land and didn’t have this kind of luck.”
User @mrs.amberchua said “I saw the same thing on my flight” and the original poster replied “Unreal experience, right?!”
User @travellerkiat said “Wow! Beautiful!” and Jing Hoe wrote “no wayyyy. so lucky !!!”
Nellie Tan Ji Rou noted “what a view,” while @jamesrylei said: “Wow.. free viewing.. you’re so blessed..”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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