People are confusing a weather phenomenon known as 'light pillars' with UFOs - here are the photos

Imagine stepping into the night and seeing beams of light that shoot from the earth straight into the atmosphere. You might suspect alien spaceships, but light pillars are of this world.

When a blast of cold weather comes down from the Arctic, flat ice crystals form in the air and hang there like pixie dust. Any source of light reflects off the crystals, creating a dazzling display of brightly colored rods of light known as light pillars.

The appearance of these pillars south of polar regions is so rare that people have reported them as UFO sightings in the past - as some did with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch in December.

Photographer Ray Majoran captured the otherworldly display outside his home in Ontario, Canada. He shared some photos with us. Follow him on Instagram for more.