Strange light running along tree branches - Ask Extension
Last evening we noticed faint lights in our maple tree. The lights appear to travel along the branches, more on one side of the tree than the others....
Knowledgebase
Strange light running along tree branches #923456
Asked January 09, 2026, 8:50 AM EST
Last evening we noticed faint lights in our maple tree. The lights appear to travel along the branches, more on one side of the tree than the others. The phenomenon lasted more than an hour and we have been unable to figure out the cause. To our knowledge, there is no electrical wiring near the tree. I have a movie of the lights but it is larger than 8mb.
Lorain County Ohio
Expert Response
Hello Jim,
That is an interesting observation, for sure. I am also not entirely certain what might be causing this, or what exactly the phenomenon might be. It would be helpful to see the video you took to get a better understanding of what you observed. I know it's a large file. Is there any possibility you could send it directly to my email? My email is <personal data hidden>. If that doesn't seem to work, you could always bring your phone in with you to the extension office here in Lorain County, and I'd be happy to take a look at it to see if we can get anything figured out. We are located at 42110 Russia Road in Elyria.
