E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSPhotographer Nate Bolt got a bleary-eyed surprise when he checked the back of his camera while shooting a time lapse of his 11-hour flight from San Francisco to Paris.
What started off as a casual art project has garnered hundreds of thousands of astonished viewers - for something Bolt couldn't even see with his own eyes.
"I was as surprised as anybody else," he told msnbc.com.
Nate Bolt
The aurora borealis light up the night sky on a flight from San Francisco to Paris.
During the overnight flight, the half-asleep Bolt leaned over to check his camera and saw the aurora borealis lighting up the skies on its viewfinder screen.
Although he couldn't see the northern lights with his naked eyes, which he attributes to light inside the cabin, Bolt kept shooting. Over the course of the flight, the camera took more than 2,400 images.
Nate Bolt's camera and tripod on a flight from
See his pictures in motion and hear his remarks in our interview:
Photographer Nate Bolt tells TODAY.com's Dara Brown how he clicked pictures for 11 hours during his flight from San Francisco to Paris and captured the Northern Lights.
Update (4/11/2011 8:27pm EST): Many commenters have noted that the window Bolt was shooting out of would be facing south, and therefore question the veracity of the video. The likely flight path from San Francisco International to Charles de Gaulle follows a trajectory that typically crosses Thunder Bay and clips the southern tip of Greenland, far enough north that a moderate display of aurora borealis could be visible to the south.
Related content:
Watch the original, full-length video
Northern lights, like never seen before
The aurora borealis over Norway
Must-see space pictures
Leave a Comment:
Cool pix, great video. I'd like to see the whole thing with sound. Anyone know if there's a link available anywhere?
MikeyMike - i just added a link to his original video - thanks for the suggestion - you can see it here: http://beepshow.com
Good job bro !
How wonderful. It is my dream to see the northern lights. So beautiful.
That is pretty interesting that he could not see it with the naked eye, but he could see it through his view finder. I got to see the aurora borealis in full presence this year for the first time as we just moved to Alaska! :)) An amazing experience to be able to see this!
I am a little confused; if you were taking pictures of the northern lights; then why is the right wing in the picture? From San Francisco to Paris the left wing should be in the picture to be looking north.
looks like you reversed the image. plane appears to be flying west from SF to Paris, w/ AB to right. why?
Rick-330.... Thank you. I was about to ask the same question. Cool pics though.
Great time-lapse over the right wing! I've done the similar west-to-east flight from Vancouver (or Calgary) to London (or Frankfurt) often. The view from the right side of cabin (southeast transitioning to southwest views) is much better as you get the Rockies with the afternoon sun on them, more city/town lights at night, and a view of the Irish/Scotish/English coastlines without the glaring morning sun in your eyes. The northern lights are visible from both sides of the plane although my best views have been from the right - like the video. The right side is also better for the daytime flights east-to-west as you get a better norther view of the arctic ice and various mountain ranges.
Does anyone the the baby in the lower right corner ,facing the lights and reaching out his hand
I don't see the baby, but I do see a horse's face on the left and an angel on the other side of the wing.
Yes I see the child/baby in the picture! Brought me to tears, I don't know why. It's as if it the aurora borialis is a baby angles play toy.
Fabulous, I have always wanted to see the lights myself; my husband has and it's just something you don't forget. I do see the baby on the right side reaching out its hand; what's with that!?
What? I watched this thing several times: no baby, no horse, no angel, no hands. What are you people looking at? Same as a Jesus picture on a tortilla or a Mary picture on a piece of burnt toast? Once one person claims to "see" something a number of others will follow.
I see the baby - kind of like a profile...not really BOTTOM right - more like half way up. Very cool. Very cool.
That was amazing!
The photos are incredible, the only thing better is that he was able to get his tripod on the plane and I can't get a small bottle of water on.
I was wondering that ! I guess TSA is not doing their job!
Question: he is clearly shooting out of the starboard (right) side of the airplane, which would face South on a West to East flight (S.F. to Paris). So how is he seeing the Northern lights while facing South???
Very cool, I would have tried to convince the captain to turn off the cabin lights in hopes of seeing it with my eyes. I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights
The cabin lights are usually turned down very low at night so that passengers can sleep and you have your choice to turn your personal ones up. I have taken pictures out the window myself by putting the camera right up to the window and not using the flash and have gotten some pretty good pictures that way and I have a cheap digital one. There is something funny about those pics if the photographer claims he could not see the Lights with his bare eyes although they look real enough. They can be seen from any of the Northern U.S. and from Northern Europe. When flying from Germany to Chicago in 1961 I went North across Great Brittain, the Southern part of Greenland, Newfoundland into Chicago, so going that Northern route is nothing new and the Northern Lights could very well have been seen. If they could have been seen from a South or East facing window I don't know, maybe the negative (if he used real film) had been been reversed before printing.
I have had the opportunity to see the northern lights. I wasn't sure when I saw them but I realized that I was looking north, not true north but close enough and I was on a patio at night. I was talking to my wife on the phone when I saw them She was at work and I believe i was in my early to mid 20's. I am in my early 50's today. I was in northern Rhode Island when it happened. It looked like an ocean of lights in the sky. I can relate to someone seeing them because I hasve seen them myself but seeing them looking south, could be if it is strong enough
What am I missing. He is on the right side of the aircraft, which from SF to Paris would be the south-side of the aircraft. The northern lights would be on the left-side of the aircraft, right.........
C'mon, either it flew eastward (across the Pacific & Russia), or it was flying backwards, you silly!... :-)
Mike,
Astute observation, but if they were far enough North, I don't think it would necessarily matter which side they were on. The guys on the left side of the airplane might have been able to see it also. You're talking about a phenomenon in Macro.
i wondered the same thing - Gtodd may have it right:
I agree with you. I cant believe people have missed this!
"Northern" is referring to the hemisphere in which the phenomenon occured. Aurora Borealis for the norther, Aurora Australis for the southern.
How about they flew over the north pole on a great circle route? Sheesh!
Very good point Mike!...I was wondering the same thing.....hmmm...makes you wonder what's really the truth when it comes to stuff we get every day from the media types.....
A direct flight for San Fran to Paris should take the plane well into northern Canada. Wish I had a globe to see exactly what the optimal flight path would be (great circle), but best guess would be that it'll go up the Hudson Bay, through lower to mid Greenland, and then back down to Paris.
Mitchell
I agree that the northern lights should have been over the left wing and not the right wing as shown as shown here. Looks like some good Photoshop work.
I would agree with Mitchell. A flight between San Francisco and Paris would be much shorter flown over the North Pole, most likely making the lights visible from either side of the plane. As he suggested, a quick way to illustrate this is to take a piece of string and a globe. The line along the string where it is the shortest between the two cities is probably close to the actual flight path.
Actually it is common practice now a days to fly over the Arctic because it is shorter. My Mother was one of the few on the team that set the program up in the early fifties for SAS airlines. To think that flights only go east or west is ridiculous in this day and age.
This is HAARP. Go to HAARP.net and read what Dr. Nick Begich wrote about it.
I live in rural upstate New York and i've seen the Northern Lights 3 times in my 25 years! It is truly amazing. The last time I saw them they were in the southern sky and they were the brightest I have ever seen them. I don't know much about the phenomenon but I have seen it with my own eyes. Because of this I have no reason to doubt these photographs and I hope you will all stop trying to discredit them. You just have to be in the right place at the right time and look up! (This might be the most important step.)
I'd think that he would somehow set up to get the best view possible, and that everyone would cooperate to that end. It doesn't look like the shortest route goes beyond the NP, but maybe magnetic N, which is what I understand controls the boreali.
Great Circle route mapper:
Given that magnetic North is in the Arctic islands of Canada - not the geographic north pole - I would agree that at the latitudes this flight would have reached, the aurora would have been visible from both sides of the plane.
Its not hard to understand this, ok, say the lights were over your city , and you fly over the center of the city you would be able to see it out of both sides of the plane right? Ya get it now?
if he flew from San Fran to Paris,
Wouldn't all the action be on the left side of the plane?
according to the pictures he was set up on the right. he was then facing south!
Ya, That's what I thought. If you read above, they say he could have gone directly over the pole. Only way to know is to ask the airline. It does seem logical that it would be on the left.
Just track a flight from SAN FRAN to Paris. Not hard to do. You'll see the exact flightpath of that plane.
As an airline pilot (ATP) with many years experience, I have seen the Northern Lights while flying the Polar Route.. BUT NOT FROM THE PORTSIDE of the AIRCRAFT! These photos would have to have been taken from an aircraft flying the polar or northern route to get the pictures! Not SFO to CDG/ORY (the only 2 airports able to habdle the 747 /wing shown in picture). Doesn't anybody challenge these scammers anymore. I guess it's just someone looking for notariety. I would however like to know about the real way the photos were taken.
excuse me but the PORTSIDE is the LEFT side if you are facing in the direction of the flight, and this guy was allegedly shooting out of the RIGHT side. Get your directions straight. What I'm saying is that I don't think you could get these pics from the RIGHT side, but only from the LEFT side if you are going from SF to Europe, and from the RIGHT side on the return trip. You would have to be looking North in either case.
Can you see the lights at all if they are right above you? I would think only if you are looking straight up and these pics make you think that you are on the same altitude as the lights. I think you are nowhere near that height in a plane of any kind.
This has got to be a fake. The Northern and Southern Lights are 50 miles above the surface of the Earth and the pics make it look as if the plane was at the same altitude. Sorry, but planes don't fly that high. Check Wikipedia for more info on the Auroras.
I hope he had to pay for a second seat to set is camera and tripod on. They make large people buy two seats if they take up the space, so someone else using two seats also should,
Maybe the seat was empty. According to the video he was flying on AirFrance and maybe the flight was not full, but I think the whole thing is a fake.
I wonder...did he have to pay for that seat for his tri-pod?
They didn't fly east across the United States. The distance would be too great. Watching the photos you see the end up over a snowy/ice area so it's obvious the plane was flying what pilots call the Great Circle.
The plane flies to the northeast and over Canada and Greenland and then over England before landing in Paris. It's a shorter route then a straight line. At that Latitude you can see the Northern Lights on both sides of the plane.
Look up and you will see the route.
You're right ZombieKing, we did this route from Calgary, Canada to Amsterdan, we across Hudson Bay and Greenland, we were on the left side (looking to the Northern side) of the plane, but I believe people seated on the right side could see it too! It is all over the sky, dancing, appearing and disappearing! It was a dream come true for me! :)
That is right. And a non stop flight is $3500.00 vs a flight that makes 2 stops at $1400.00. Just sayin.
you can frequently see the "lights" on flights to Alaska or Canada....One of the tricks is to wait till the cabin is dimmed....not a problem on AK flights...and press you face to the window as close as you can.....and you often can see them....even if you are a couple of inches away....then you can't see them....As far as Tripods? Most of them fold up and if there is an empty seat...why not use it...permission was granted by the flight crew...certainly another passenger would have used it to lie down and sleep....instead of taking these great time lapse pics....
For those complaining about him buying the seat, what if the seat next to him was just empty to begin with. If no one is using it, they don't make it so people can't use those empty seats. I flew with my wife and infant once. He was a lap infant and the flight was about 70% full or so. No one sat in our three aisle seat, so we just put him between us in his own seat. It wasn't being used by anyone else.
If he is flying East, wouldn't these be on the left side of the plane to the north, and not out of the right hand window [to the south]?
Actually, you could most likely see it on both sides of the plane since you fly over the North Pole on a flight from West Coast US to Europe. :)
Yes, if you are far enough north, the "Northern Lights" can be seen from all sides of any airplane. No conspiracy here.
No, you don't have to buy an extra seat for a tripod.
Cool pics and vid.
If you are far enough north you will be south
Paris my ass.....come to Nova Scotia or Northern Alberta (cheap flights trust me) and you'll see these gas induced 'natural' phenomena good and cheap bye!!!!
Dude..he didn't fly to Paris to see the Northern Lights... fool. Do us all a favor, engage your brain before you activate your mouth.
Oh also as you put it... bye! lmfao.
Beautifull
What happened to "anything with an on/off switch should should be in the off position" below 10k feet?
Those Northern Lights aren't natural. Haven't you read about the Chemtrails and HAARP? HAARP is the radio towers in Alaska that are capable of directing radio beams and can zero in on a point to cause weather changes. Chemtrails are deposits of Aluminim into the atmostphere that has been happening for years. Monstanto (stock heavily invested in by George Soros and Bill Gates) has patented seeds that resist aluminum toxicities (food control). Gates invested in a seed bank in Antartica. These same "northern lights" were seen over the Iceland Volcano when it erupted. They have been seen over other strange "weather" patterns. These disturbances are made by HAARP. Waterspouts in the ocean. Fish kills. Fire on the ocean. Earthquakes. Doesn't anyone wonder why the majority of huge earthquakes happening now are all similarly 6.2 miles deep?
Ask Obama
Yes the Northern Lights are natural. We're in the second year of an eleven year cycle of increased sunspot activity. There is a 40% chance of seeing the Northern Lights over the next 24 hours. (SpaceWeather.com) The Lights are caused by particles streaming towards the Earth from sunspots and flares and other solar activity, called the solar wind. These particles tear away the Earths Magnetosphere and cause an electrochemical reaction with gases like neon and argon in the upper atmosphere, like a giant beer sign. This also thins the Magnetosphere, allowing more heat to reach the Earth and causing Global Warming. It's going to be a hot summer.
This next part is a little off topic, but you may find it useful. Tin foil doesn't work, but you can strip the insulation off of copper wire, and weave it together to make a Faraday cage, which can be concealed under your hat.
Yes sir...hence the quotations....
"Its all a conspiracy, MAN!!!!!. They are out to destroy the world. The us government planned 9/11 and killed JFK .!!!!!!!! " SHUT UP STUPID- Its a natural occurence.....Find a girlfriend or somethin not so gay as your idiot conspiracy theories.....what is a conspiracy is that your vote counts as much as mine.
OMG!Chemtrails and all that other rubbish. Thanks, P-ZiMoVn, at least one other person in these benighted USA who still has some sense.
BigDogTalk should do proper research before openinf his/her big mouth and SonOfMollyN isn't much better but at least Son does have some of his info straight.
Auroras have been around as long as the Earth, they are even found on other planets. Hey, BigDogTalk, are they caused by the US Government too? How stupid can you be?
Nice catch segelkatz, you need iron to make a Faraday cage. I will often fold, spindle, or mutilate, some info in the interest of brevity. This time my only recourse, is to plead artistic license.
It was ok. put the camera in the bathroom for the whole flight now that would be interesting.
I don't know how he got away with taking pictures during the whole flight. Everytime I try to take a camera out to take pictures of cloud formations, etc., I am told by the flight attendants it is against FAA rules to take pictures on the plane and to put my camera away immediately. I have been told this on at least 3 different flights. Great pictures though!
I wondered the same thing. I flew to Philly a couple years ago and wanted pictures with a friend (we had just met in the airport, both going to the same leadership conference lol!) but the attendant got huffy with us and told us to put the camera away or she would take it away :-( Fun hater.
I took a flight in Sept 2009 from Seattle to L.A. and took pictures and nobody said a word, took more pictures on the return flight and nothing was said then either. I don't know what airline you took but I was on Alaska with no problem. Also in Nov 2008 without any problems. Maybe you need to change airlines.
Mine was United. I may be switching! :D
I wonder if he did pay for that seat. Did he have the idea planned, or was there just an open seat next to him so he took his chance?
It happens. I've had a vacant seat next to me before :D greatest flight EVER!
why do people worry about if he paid for an extra seat? bunch of idiots...great pics dude!!
That is a fantastic video. Did anyone notice the strange object that flew by at about 1:19 of the video? If you slow it down, it almost looks metallic. Hmmm. I assume they were flying at about 30-35,000 feet. What would be up that high? Any ideas?
Thinking it was another plane.....:-)
are you suggesting UFOs? OMG!!!
I noticed you are traveling from the US to Paris and obviously traveling from West to East; however, you are sitting on the right side of the plane (which would be on the South side of the plane). How in the heck were you able to photograph the "Northern" lights from the "South" side? Just curious.
I would love to see this natural phenomenon first hand too. But thanks to technology, we get to see this guys incredible video! Sorry to be shallow, but that news lady was easy on the eyes.