On December 15, 2025 at 7:45 pm, my husband and I were traveling westbound on Route 50 in Clermont. We observed what looked like light pillars. This is the first time we have ever seen and photographed anything like this.
Light Pillars are an atmospheric optical phenomenon that is rarely seen in Florida.
One explanation for what we were seeing was an optical illusion created when we looked toward the US-27 intersection ridge where the Florida Citrus Tower sits along the western horizon line. The tower’s synchronized holiday light show was active and sending vertical red and white LED beams into the sky. Because we were lower than the tower ridge, the upward light beams hit the low winter clouds and appeared to be pillars of light anchored directly over the highway.
This doesn’t explain why this illusion would show up in a photograph.
A more likely scientific explanation, according to the Gemini Google AI, is that we experienced a rare lower-latitude atmospheric light pillar. This occurs when a passing weather front traps a localized pocket of highly dense, flat, hexagonal ice crystals in a low cloud deck. This creates an “ice mirror” effect and can reflect the tail and head lights of the vehicles around us.
Regardless of the science behind why we saw the light pillars that night, there is another explanation for what we saw.
I believe that the light pillars symbolize divine presence, guidance, protection and enlightenment echoing Biblical stories. They represent my spiritual journey.
I believe that this was a sacred encounter. It is one example of the many sacred encounters I experienced in December 2025 that led me down the Scripture Walk path.