Eerie photo captures green ‘grid of dots’ floating in sky – but smart iPhone users worked out what’s really going on
A GRID of green dots appeared in an image of a lamp post and baffled the photo taker but there is a fascinating reason why it exists.
The green dots seem to be floating in the sky making it look ghost-like but smart iPhone users explained it is part of the refracted lighting.
The image was posted to Reddit with a caption that said, “What are the green dots in this picture?”
The post got tons of interactions as well with many people stumped on what the green dot grid could be.
But the answer emerged and turns out there is a perfectly normal technical reasoning.
An informed Reddit user responded, “Those are the refracted individual LED lights from the lampost itself.”
“Any lights entering the camera lens head-on always has this effect.”
SHOCKING SIGHT
The revelation in the Reddit post made other people realize the refracted light also occurred when they were taking images of the solar eclipse or the sun.
Multiple people shared their images of the eclipse which shows the bright shining sun and then the reflected image of the moon a few inches away.
The moon also showed up in a green hue similar to the lamp post lights.
“That’s how I got pics of the eclipse with my crappy phone camera,” a Reddit user replied.
“No No, not the bright glaring ball, the tiny half eclipse-shaped green spot next to it!”
Other people shared how they were shocked when they saw green dots show up in their photos of objects including light.
“Had it happen to me recently with a ‘walk’ sign. Looked like an alien abduction,” one user said.
Another user said, “Happened to me years ago with my first iPhone. I thought I captured a UFO on camera when I was drunk.”
LENS REFLECTING LIGHT
Many iPhone users have stumbled upon this refracted light situation as well and it was even highlighted in a discussion on Apple’s website.
The discussion is named: “iPhone Camera Lens and Reflections.”
The refracted light was explained in more detail and said to be the result of direct light going into the camera lens which creates a ghost-like image.
“Lens flare occurs when light is scattered or flared within a lens system, most often in response to bright sources of light,” the discussion said.
“This happens in all lens systems as light is refracted by the lenses and hits other surfaces before finally reaching the imaging sensor.
“On the iPhone Camera, this is most frequently seen as dots orange or green in color that can be found to be directly related to a bright light source elsewhere in the image.”
The green dots will likely show up when taking photos of other bright images and will create a floating ghost-like object that looks unreal at first.
In areas with large brightly lit areas, like signs, the entire lit area may appear inverted as a “ghost image” elsewhere in the image.
Apple discussion
“In areas with large brightly lit areas, like signs, the entire lit area may appear inverted as a “ghost image” elsewhere in the image,” the discussion said.
However, the ghost-like object is not uncommon when it comes to photo taking and also occurs on all higher-quality lenses.
“This effect is completely normal, and is common to all lens systems in high-quality cameras from the iPhone to very expensive professional cameras used for digital cinema acquisition.”