By: Alicia Chen

On Wednesday evening, an eerie pink glow illuminated the sky of Australia. Residents were spooked, some were horrified. People thought this may be a sign of an alien invasion.

Tammy Szumowski, local resident, said that “I was just like, ‘What the hell is that?’ It is very bizarre, this huge pink light in the sky. I was trying not to freak out because I’ve got my girls in the car.”

Thankfully, though, we don’t need to worry about being kidnapped by alien forms from other planets, as people have identified this pink glow to be from an undisclosed marijuana factory.

Australia made it legal to cultivate, research, and manufacture medical marijuana, which is often used for relief. Australians mainly use marijuana for pain relief, anxiety, and sleep problems.

More than 70,000 Australians use marijuana, bringing the state an estimated income of 160,000 in USD.

Usage has spiked within the past few years, with the pandemic and lockdown being two major contributors. Before Australia vaccinated 95 percent of its adults, it held one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. This caused stress to a lot of the citizens.

The first company that was licensed by the state of Australia to conduct cannabis research was Cann Group. The source of the pink light was from a commercial cannabis factory that Cann Group built and was undisclosed until this incident.

This Mildura factory used to produce grapes to supply wineries across the region. It is unknown when the company turned to cannabis.

The company has been experimenting with LED lights to grow cannabis leaves faster, and usually they keep it covered up with black curtains. But one day, someone accidentally left it open, and the light reflected on the clouds causing the mysterious pink light.

Some may have been disappointed that this was not a true alien invasion, but after all, an alien invasion would be lot more amusing than a cannabis factory incident.