There Was a Green Flash in FoCo on Friday…and It Wasn’t Aliens

A local Fort Collins woman had a shock on Friday (January 3) night when she saw a bright green flash in the sky.

Describing it as "a bright green ball of light," the woman said she saw it with her daughter while driving on Taft Hill Road around 9 p.m.

The woman reported it to The Coloradoan, who informed her that a subset of the Northern Colorado Astronomical Society was also stargazing at the same time.

The group explained that the flash was likely a stray meteor from the Quadrantid Meteor Shower, which occurred later that night.

While meteors usually appear as a streak across the sky, the group said that if they come straight towards the observer, it will leave a shorter trail that displays as a flash.

If you want to try and see phenomena like this for yourself, you can register to join The Northern Colorado Astronomical Society at their next stargazing session from 7-9 p.m. on January 17 at Horsetooth Mountain here.

Maybe next time there will be an actual extra-terrestrial.