Baku, July 27, AZERTAC

Pilots photographed the mysterious red lights that produced an eerie glowing sky over the Atlantic Ocean at night, according to Nature World News.

The images show enormous patches of an unnerving red light over the Atlantic Ocean, as seen in a popular Reddit thread. The photographer, who is a pilot friend of theirs, claimed in the original poster to have never seen anything like it. The pilot requests anonymity.

Theoretical explanations for the strange lights were discussed in the Reddit thread's comments section. One commenter joked that it might be an entrance to the Upside Down from Stranger Things, but another thought the red glow might be caused by a novel fishing technique employed by boats pursuing Pacific saury, a species of baitfish.

Pacific saury, which can reach a maximum length of 12 inches, are found all over the Pacific Ocean and sporadically in the Atlantic. They are caught both for human consumption and as bait to catch larger fish. In the Atlantic, there are various other saury species.

Bright red lights are used at night to draw saury to the water surface where they can be quickly caught in the nets of commercial fishing vessels. Fishing lamps have long been used to lure fish species like saury toward fishing boats at night. However, according to Delta, a lamp manufacturer, these LED fishing lamps are far more effective and safe for use by fishermen because they produce less heat and ultraviolet light than filament bulbs.

Similar occurrences have previously been observed by other pilots as well as the International Space Station, which captured a photo of hundreds of fishing boats off the coast of Cambodia using green fishing lights, which are thought to be excellent for catching squid.