Sun Pillars

[Railsplitter]

I’m 61 years old and the only time in my entire life that ever seen a Sun Pillar was in 2000 or maybe 2001.

I was driving north on the interstate early in the morning. Just after sunrise, the interstate turned east for about a mile. Nobody else was in my car with me.

What I saw was almost exactly like this picture except for the landscape and I don’t remember if there were any clouds or not. My point is that the Sun Pillar that I saw looked exactly like the one in this picture.

I watched people in their cars and trucks as they passed me and nobody seemed to even notice it. Nobody was looking at it and everybody acted like it wasn’t even there. I wanted to pull over and stare at it but you don’t pull over on the interstate just to gawk at something. So I didn’t.

This might sound silly but for many years I thought it was some kind of sign. Especially considering that nobody else seemed to see it. About 6 months ago, I learned what this phenomenon was called so I looked it up.

What I discovered is that although these Sun Pillars aren’t really common, they aren’t necessarily rare either.

I’m just curious. Have any of you folks have ever seen one of these or anything closely resembling it?

[dlr110]

What a beautiful and Heavenly sight Rick. I can't say that I have ever seen one like that before. Great photography too!

[FRJ]

A great experience for you, Rick, I can tell you appreciated it.

I have never seen nor have I ever heard of a "Sun Pillar".
What a wonderful thing. I would love to see one.

[Railsplitter]

Thanks for posting guys.

When I found that picture, I wasn't even looking for Sun Pillars. It wasn't on my mind and I didn't even know what the phenomenon was called at the time.

My favorite band for most of my life has always been RUSH. I had been listening to one their songs called "Chain Lightning" and part of the lyrics are "Sun Dogs fire on the horizon". I just wanted to know what a Sun Dog was so I looked it up.

During my search, I stumbled upon that picture of the Sun Pillar and I thought "Yes, yes! That is what I saw 20 some years ago"! That was about 6 months ago. After all this time, it was like a milestone to finally see a picture of what I had seen with my own two eyes so many years ago.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I have seen both sun pillars and sun dogs. Here is a picture of a sundog I took a few years ago here at my house. I’ve seen sun pillars in a few places. Alaska was one and on an island somewhere, I can’t remember we have been on so many islands it’s hard to remember, it was in the West Indies I’m sure. I know that ice crystals in the atmosphere cause the sun dogs. It’s very neat to see these in the middle of a hot day. Good topic Rick.

[Railsplitter]

Great picture, Mark! It’s good to know that you have seen both.

I haven’t ran into anyone in my daily life that has ever seen a Sun Pillar but then I don’t go around asking about it all the time. It is rather refreshing to know that others have seen them.