Ice Pillars explained

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- It’s not the aliens, it isn’t the end of days, what you’re looking at is an ice pillar, also known as a light pillar.

It’s a phenomenon similar to a rainbow, almost a frozen rainbow. They are formed when there are a lot of ice crystals in the atmosphere, formed by high humidity in the winter months.

Every single one of these ice crystals acts as a tiny mirror and, similar to rainbows, refract light from a source into the viewer's eyes.

The source doesn’t need to be an artificial light either. Sunsets can have them, the moon as well, as long as the light source is near the same level as the viewer.

Again, these are fairly common when we are near 100 percent humidity, so if you see ice pillars in the sky, you’ll likely see frost on your car.