Those Weird Green Space Lights Over Hawaii Didn't Come From NASA

On Jan. 28, a series of green lights zipped across the night sky in Hawaii.

TheSubaru Telescopeon Mauna Kea captured footage of the unusual sight with its livestreaming Subaru-Asahi Star Camera.

Though the lights might’ve prompted concern among some folks about UFOs, they actually have a satellite-related explanation.

After some initial confusion, the telescope team traced the likely origin of the lights to a Chinese satellite.

That was a good guess, but it turned out to be a different satellite.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)launched in late 2018.

It shoots laser pulses at Earth to measure our planet’s surface.

It’s helpingscientists track changesin ice sheets, sea ice, glaciers and forests.

First published Feb. 2, 2023, at 10:13 a.m. PT.

Updated Feb. 9 to reflect new potential origin of the lights.