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Was the Baffin Light a Twinkling Star?

A low star seen through unstable Arctic air could appear to flash red, green, white and blue without changing its true colour.

27 sources 3 graphics

On this page

  • How stars can appear to change colour
  • Why Arctic night flying complicates visual judgement
  • What observations would confirm or weaken this explanation
Preview for Was the Baffin Light a Twinkling Star?

Introduction

One of the most plausible natural explanations for the colour-changing light reported by a Nolinor Aviation Boeing 737 crew over northern Baffin Island in November 2018 is atmospheric scintillation. This is the familiar “twinkling” effect that makes bright stars appear to flash rapidly between white, red, green and blue, especially when they are low in the sky. The pilots’ description of a bright light changing colour is therefore consistent with a well-understood optical phenomenon. However, the available public evidence is not detailed enough to show that scintillation was definitely responsible. The explanation remains plausible rather than proven because key observational details—such as the object’s exact bearing, elevation and duration—were never released.[nunatsiaq.com]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

Scintillation illustration 1

How stars can appear to change colour

Atmospheric scintillation occurs because starlight passes through constantly shifting pockets of air with different temperatures and densities. These layers bend the incoming light by tiny amounts, causing rapid fluctuations in brightness, apparent position and colour. The star itself is not changing colour; the Earth’s atmosphere is altering how its light reaches the observer.[skyandtelescope.org]skyandtelescope.orgSky & Telescope Stellar Scintillation: Why Stars TwinkleSky & TelescopeStellar Scintillation: Why Stars Twinkle - Sky & Telescope…

Bright stars are particularly striking because the human eye easily notices these rapid changes. Under poor viewing conditions, observers can see a sequence of flashes that appear red, green, white and occasionally blue within fractions of a second. This effect is strongest for objects close to the horizon because their light travels through a much greater thickness of atmosphere before reaching the observer. The World Meteorological Organization explicitly notes that scintillation can alter a distant light’s apparent brightness, position and colour.[wmo.int]cloudatlas.wmo.intInternational Cloud Atlas Scintillation | International Cloud AtlasInternational Cloud Atlas Scintillation | International Cloud Atlas

The colours reported publicly after the Baffin Island sighting—red, green and white, with some later accounts also mentioning blue—fall comfortably within the range commonly described for strong stellar scintillation.[Nunatsiaq News]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

8:01

Why Do Stars Twinkle but Planets Don’t? [ID0723]

Channel: History of Simple Things · Views: 11.8K · Uploaded: February 2026 · Length: 8 minutes

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Why Arctic night flying complicates visual judgement

The circumstances of the November 2018 sighting make a scintillation explanation worthy of serious consideration without making it certain.

The aircraft was flying at night across northern Baffin Island, where there are few ground lights and very little visual reference outside the cockpit. In such conditions, pilots can accurately report what they see while still finding it difficult to judge a light’s true distance or altitude. A single bright point against a dark sky provides few visual cues from which to estimate whether it is nearby or extremely distant.[Nunatsiaq News]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

Cold Arctic conditions can also create strong temperature differences between layers of air. These gradients contribute to atmospheric turbulence that produces scintillation, although cold weather alone does not guarantee unusually strong colour changes. The important factor is the optical path through unstable air rather than temperature by itself.[skyandtelescope.org]skyandtelescope.orgSky & Telescope Stellar Scintillation: Why Stars TwinkleSky & TelescopeStellar Scintillation: Why Stars Twinkle - Sky & Telescope…

An aircraft’s own motion adds another complication. As the aircraft changes heading or position, a distant celestial object may appear to shift relative to the cockpit windows even though it is effectively stationary. Without precise measurements of angular movement, apparent motion alone is not enough to distinguish a star from a closer object.

Scintillation illustration 2

What observations would confirm or weaken this explanation

The principal weakness of the scintillation hypothesis is not the physics but the lack of detailed observational data.

Evidence that would strengthen the explanation includes:

  • the light remaining fixed against the background stars;
  • a low elevation above the horizon;
  • no independent radar or airborne target;
  • an appearance lasting long enough for normal stellar observation;
  • astronomical reconstruction showing a bright star or planet in the reported direction.[skyandtelescope.org]skyandtelescope.orgSky & Telescope Stellar Scintillation: Why Stars TwinkleSky & TelescopeStellar Scintillation: Why Stars Twinkle - Sky & Telescope…

Conversely, the explanation would become much less convincing if reliable evidence showed:

  • sustained movement independent of the observing aircraft;
  • measured changes in bearing inconsistent with a distant celestial object;
  • corroborating radar returns from the same location;
  • multiple independent observers reporting structured features rather than a point of light;
  • instrument data demonstrating rapid manoeuvres.[Nunatsiaq News]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

None of those stronger indicators has been made public in connection with the Baffin Island case.

FACETS OF THE STARS - Stellar scintillation in real-time 4K

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Twinkling Stars vs. Steady Planets: The Science Behind the Phenomenon #astronomy #stars

Channel: GeoStellar

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How well does scintillation fit the reported sighting?

The public record is unusually restrained. Nolinor’s vice-president said the pilot described a shining light that changed from red to green to white and suggested it might have been a star, a meteor or “probably something natural.” The official CADORS entry records that the observation had no operational impact and should be regarded as preliminary rather than a confirmed identification.[Nunatsiaq News]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

That combination of facts makes atmospheric scintillation a credible explanation for one specific aspect of the sighting: the reported colour changes. It does not automatically explain every feature that the crew may have observed, because the publicly available reports omit crucial details such as the light’s precise position in the sky, its apparent motion and the length of the observation.

The most evidence-based conclusion is therefore a limited one. Atmospheric scintillation offers a straightforward physical mechanism capable of producing exactly the kind of rapidly changing colours described by the crew, particularly if they were observing a bright, low-lying celestial object through turbulent Arctic air. At the same time, the surviving evidence is too sparse to confirm that this is what happened, leaving the explanation plausible but unverified.[nunatsiaq.com]nunatsiaq.comNews Pilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018…Published: November 27, 2018

Scintillation illustration 3

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Endnotes

1. Source: nunatsiaq.com
Title: News Pilots report UFO sighting over [Nunavut]({{ ‘what-really-lies-behind-nunavuts-ufo/’ | relative_url }})’s northern Baffin Island
Link:https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/pilots-report-ufo-sighting-over-nunavuts-northern-baffin-island/

Source snippet

Nunatsiaq NewsPilots report UFO sighting over Nunavut’s northern Baffin IslandNovember 27, 2018...

Published: November 27, 2018

2. Source: nunatsiaq.com
Title: our top 10 stories of 2018
Link:https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/our-top-10-stories-of-2018/

3. Source: youtube.com
Title: Why Do Stars Twinkle but Planets Don’t?
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCBUutvDCAE

Source snippet

Atmospheric Scintillation | #astronoMYtime | To twinkle or not to twinkle...

4. Source: youtube.com
Title: Atmospheric Scintillation | #astrono MYtime | To twinkle or not to twinkle
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOf3diELYQE

Source snippet

Understand why stars and planets twinkle?...

5. Source: skyandtelescope.org
Title: Sky & Telescope Stellar Scintillation: Why Stars Twinkle
Link:https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/why-do-stars-twinkle/

Source snippet

Sky & TelescopeStellar Scintillation: Why Stars Twinkle - Sky & Telescope...

6. Source: cloudatlas.wmo.int
Title: International Cloud Atlas Scintillation | International Cloud Atlas
Link:https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/scintillation.html

7. Source: astronomy.com
Title: Why do some stars appear to twinkle while others don’t?
Link:https://www.astronomy.com/observing/why-do-some-stars-appear-to-twinkle-while-others-dont/

Source snippet

Stars twinkle and sometimes appear to move around due to our atmosphere “scrambling” their light as it travels to...

Additional References

8. Source: sciencetimes.com
Link:https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/61059/20260102/why-stars-twinkle-flickering-explained-atmospheric-turbulence-light-distortion.htm

Source snippet

January 2, 2026 — WHY STARS TWINKLE: FLICKERING EXPLAINED BY ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE AND LIGHT DISTORTION By Glanze Patrick...

Published: January 2, 2026

9. Source: youtube.com
Title: Twinkling Stars vs. Steady Planets: The Science Behind the Phenomenon
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vStgYmm_gQI

Source snippet

This video from FACETS OF THE STARS - Stellar scintillation in real-time 4K is particularly relevant because it visually demonstrates rea...

10. Source: earthsky.org
Title: Why do stars twinkle, but planets don’t?
Link:https://earthsky.org/space/why-dont-planets-twinkle-as-stars-do/

Source snippet

Posted by Deborah Byrd Image June 28, 2026 The more atmosphere you are peering through, the more stars (or sometimes planets) appear to t...

Published: June 28, 2026

11. Source: skyatnightmagazine.com
Title: Why do stars twinkle?
Link:https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/why-do-stars-twinkle

Source snippet

BBC Sky at Night MagazineMay 2, 2025 — WHY DO STARS TWINKLE? What makes stars appear to twinkle in the night sky, as seen from Earth? A...

Published: May 2, 2025

12. Source: spaceweather.gov
Link:https://www.spaceweather.gov/phenomena/ionospheric-scintillation

13. Source: arxiv.org
Link:https://arxiv.org/abs/1305.0615

14. Source: youtube.com
Title: Understand why stars and planets twinkle?
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvIPlYUqPxQ

Source snippet

Twinkling Stars vs. Steady Planets: The Science Behind the Phenomenon...

15. Source: frontiersin.org
Link:https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2018.00026/full

16. Source: nrc-publications.canada.ca
Link:https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=c62279f8-dd35-48e1-9f3a-ee136f649932

17. Source: superstitioustimes.com
Link:https://superstitioustimes.com/baffin-island-ufo-nothing-more-than-a-star-on-the-horizon/