By Tim Binnall
Residents of a city in China were understandably taken aback and fearing the worst when the sky suddenly became an ominous blood red color over the weekend. The eerie incident, which reportedly occurred on Saturday night in the community of Zhoushan, saw astounded observers take to the streets to film the frightening sight and Chinese social media was subsequently flooded with footage (seen above) of the unsettling scene. As one might imagine, many people online speculated that the event was some kind of harbinger of doom with some suggesting that it was foreshadowing a massive earthquake, while others wondered if the crimson coloring was connected to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the nearby city of Shanghai to institute a strict lockdown.
The unnerving evening drew comparisons to a legendary 1770 event wherein the sky similarly turned red for nine days over several countries in Asia. That particular case was seemingly solved in 2017 when a study determined that the crimson coloring was likely caused by a massive magnetic storm. Fortunately, it would seem that this past weekend's incident also had a prosaic explanation as the Zhoushan Meteorological Bureau issued a statement which indicated that the red hue was simply the result of light, likely from fishing boats, reflecting of off low level clouds. While one is inclined to believe that the spooky sky really was just a weird weather event, it may take a few days before residents of Zhoushan are ready to breathe a sigh of relief.