Pictured below are light pillars, a local phenomenon that can appear as a distant one. In most places on Earth, a lucky viewer can see a Sun-pillar, a column of light appearing to extend up from the Sun caused by flat fluttering ice-crystals reflecting sunlight from the upper atmosphere.
Usually these ice crystals evaporate before reaching the ground. During freezing temperatures, however, flat fluttering ice crystals may form near the ground in a form of light snow, sometimes known as a crystal fog. These ice crystals may then reflect ground lights in columns not unlike a Sun-pillar. In the below picture, the colorful lights causing the light pillars surround a ice-skating rink in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Image & info via APOD
Credit & Copyright: Walter Tape (Alaska Fairbanks), Figure 8-1, Atmospheric Halos
Read & learn:http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/lpil.htm
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