Video shows night sky reflecting pink light from shopping mall, not 'aurora' in the Philippines

"Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights in the Philippines," read the caption of a TikTok video posted on May 13, 2024.

The video, geotagged in the capital Manila, has racked up more than 2.3 million views. 

It showed pink lights in the night sky over a branch of the Swedish furniture store Ikea and an eye-shaped building with a sign that reads "SM Mall of Asia".

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Screenshot of the false TikTok post, captured May 27, 2024

The claim surfaced after the most powerful solar storm in over two decades triggered spectacular auroras -- normally only visible in cold climates around the Earth's poles -- from Tasmania to Britain on May 10 and 11.

Social media lit up with pictures of the northern lights posted by people from as far as Mexico, southern Europe and even South Africa.

The same video of the pink lights was shared alongside a similar false claim elsewhere on TikTok and on Facebook here and here.

Some social media users appeared to believe it showed a visible aurora in the Philippines.

"It's news to the whole us (sic) that some countries will experience this and the Philippines is included," one said.

"Geomagnetic storm Philippines (sic), nothing to be amazed. It's alarming," wrote another.

Mall lights

The location of the video corresponds to Google Maps Street View imagery here of the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, a suburb of Manila (archived link).

Keyword searches found a Facebook post shared on May 13 which showed the nearby SM Mall of Asia had been lit with pink lighting, similar to the ones seen in the circulating video (archived link).

The Facebook user who shared the video of the mall told AFP it was taken on the same night the false TikTok post was shared.

Below is a Google Maps screenshot showing the SM Mall of Asia (red) from the location that the false TikTok video was filmed (green), marked by AFP: 

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Google Maps screenshot showing the SM Mall of Asia (red) from the location that the false TikTok video was filmed (green), marked by AFP

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the Facebook video showing the pink lights at the SM Mall of Asia (right): 

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Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the Facebook video showing the pink lights at the SM Mall of Asia (right)

TikTok videos shared here and here on May 14 also show the shopping mall's pink lights (archived links here and here).

Cloud reflection

Mario Raymundo, chief of Philippine weather bureau Pagasa's astronomical observation unit, told AFP on May 24 the circulating video showed artificial lights that were "reflected in the clouds".

Auroras in fact occur when solar particles become trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, which is stronger at the poles, forming the display of lights in the sky.

According to NASA, they are commonly seen at high northern and southern latitudes, less frequently at mid-latitudes and seldom seen near the equator (archived link). 

"The Philippines, being close to the equator, which divides the earth into the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, makes it unlikely to experience the northern lights," Raymundo said.

Philippine Space Agency astrophysicist Arcy Sace also told AFP on May 24 that the auroras triggered by the solar storm were "not visible around the latitude of the Philippines".

The false claim was also debunked by Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files (archived link).

AFP previously fact-checked other misinformation on the recent solar storm here and here.