Comments on: Lights in the sky

Question: Lights in the sky

Tarn — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:10:19 -0800

When I look into the sky, I can see small, brilliant points of light darting around. What are they?

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:17:44 -0800

I believe that's nerve endings in your retina firing off randomly.

By: daveyt

daveyt — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:18:04 -0800

Do you mean this?

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:18:59 -0800

Could you be seeing stars?

By: phrontist

phrontist — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:39:51 -0800

What daveyt said... the other interesting phenomena of this ilk is phosphenes.

By: jon4009

jon4009 — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:42:19 -0800

I get this too, and it's definitely not floaters (detached bits of retina floating about that move as you move your eyes), but it does sound like the other link posted in that question.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:15:34 -0800

wow, talk about being a day late... This 'entopic phenomenon' has been bothering me for years- I even thought I might be unique. Then yesterday the internets led me to the exact conclusion shown above. I guess I'm not so superhuman after all.

Ever experience visual snow?

By: le morte de bea arthur

le morte de bea arthur — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:28:01 -0800

What you're describing doesn't sound like floaters, which are usually large enough to discern individual shapes, and 'drift' rather than 'dart'.

It sounds exactly like misteraitch's suggestion, 'seeing stars'. I get this quite often when I sneeze or stand up quickly, especially after lying down. When I 'see stars' they're exactly as you describe: points of light that dart around in random directions. They appear and disappear quite quickly. However, you probably shouldn't see stars all the time when you look up - perhaps it's the sudden upwards movement of your head that triggers the effect.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:43:32 -0800

I really doubt they're floaters- I get these too and they look a lot more like little amoeba floating on my eye. Mind you, when I tried to describe the phosphenes to my optometrist, his first guess was floaters, but dammit, I can tell the difference! All I know is that its hard to convince a doctor that you're seeing something that isn't there.

By: zengargoyle

zengargoyle — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:52:27 -0800

I go for jon4009's answer. I see floaters. Against a blue sky I can see blood moving through my eyes. You can also google "polarized light naked eye", people can see polarization of light if you look close enough. Like Happy Dave sorta said, and astronauts have reported, neurons can fire randomly or be triggered by radiation that's around us all the time.

Since you mention blue sky, It's probably blood or polarization.

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:38:23 -0800

When I was younger, and used to do a lot of recreational placing of little bits of paper on my tongue, I would see these for HOURS. I figured I was watching the inner workings of my eyes (nerves running around across the surface, being little data messengers. Oh, the recursivity!)

True story.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:26:58 -0800

Wilhelm Reich said the lights were discharges of orgone energy which everyone could see if they were free of orgone blockages in their bodies.

Killjoys probably prefer the blue field entoptic phenomenon explanation.

By: HotToddy

HotToddy — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:41:22 -0800

I think I know exactly what you're talking about--it's almost like you can see individual particles of air, but they're made of light, right? Super tiny, and tons of them, but you only see them when looking at the sky. I read all the links above but I don't think any of those are describing this phenomenon. I've noticed it since I was a kid but don't know what it is.

By: herbaliser

herbaliser — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:02:18 -0800

iamkimiam and Zed_Lopez's responses right on top of each other are kind of hilarious.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:07:18 -0800

Hey, I'm curious if what you see looks anything like this cloud chamber.

By: Solomon

Solomon — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:20:21 -0800

I've seen things that look like glowing white whirligig beetles moving about. They seem to appear most when I stand up too quickly.

I also have floaters, that kind of look like hairs in my eyes. They are quite different, and float a predefined pattern.

In the dark, I see green and purple moving "splodges" that resemble the Matmos from the film Barbarella.

I've also seen what I think is the inside of my eye, in certain lights - it looks like a web of veins.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I figured I'd mention it anyway.

By: Justinian

Justinian — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:28:27 -0800

The answer is:

Blue field entoptic phenomenon

I gaur-an-tee it!

By: Tarn

Tarn — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:39:14 -0800

Many thanks for the informative answers, guys. HotToddy describes what I'm talking about very well. I don't think they are floaters or that I am seeing stars. It is somewhat different from the cloud chamber, since the points of light dart around noticeably. The blue field entoptic phenomenon is probably the best explanation. Cheers!

By: ysabet

ysabet — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:43:17 -0800

Interesting! I get something similar with any flat-colour surface, although it is much more pronounced with light or blue-toned colours.