Mysterious bright flashes were spotted near a top-secret military base in California over the weekend, triggering speculation over what caused the unexplained bursts in broad daylight.
Footage of the area, published on X by The Informant, shows a series of intense bursts of light erupting across the Mojave Desert before expanding glows illuminate the surrounding landscape near Edwards Air Force Base.
Edwards Air Force Base, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, is known as a premier center for flight research and aircraft testing.
The lights were spotted in footage from a public ALERTCalifornia wildlife camera, part of the University of California San Diego’s monitoring network.
While no official explanation has been released, X users have proposed their own theories, with some suggesting the lights are from secret weapon testing.
‘This is a test,’ one user shared, while another commented: ‘It looks like a phenomenon coming from underground military authorities. Must investigate ASAP.’
However, more people have suggested that the flashes are nothing more than light reflecting off the field of solar panels in the area.
The base hosts the massive Edwards & Sanborn Solar and Energy Storage Project, which spans 4,600 acres of private land and leased base property on the northwest corner of the facility.
Mysterious bright flashes were spotted near a top-secret military base in California over the weekend
The Daily Mail has contacted Edwards Air Force Base for comment.
A sprawling solar facility was unveiled on the northwestern edge of Edwards Air Force Base in February 2023.
Developed with Terra-Gen LLC, the project included nearly two million solar panels, making it the largest solar array in US Air Force history.
The facility could generate up to 1,300 megawatts of electricity for California’s power grid, enough to supply more than 238,000 homes while preventing an estimated 320,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Although solar panels are designed to absorb sunlight, their glass surfaces can still produce intense momentary reflections known as glint when the sun and observer align at certain angles.
The enormous solar farm near Edwards could therefore be one possible explanation.
However, not everyone online is sold on the idea.
‘Probably moving a secret aircraft and they’re using floodlights to screen it from observers,’ one user commented on the video.
Edwards Air Force Base, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, is known as a premier center for flight research and aircraft testing
The footage has trigtgered speculation over what caused the unexplained bursts in broad daylight
Another said: ‘All the people saying solar panels are bots you can easily tell. This is most likely some weapons test, or us getting got by a foreign state.’
Described as an ‘irreplaceable national asset,’ these days Edwards Air Force Base remains at the center of a significant portion of the US Air Force’s aircraft test and development efforts.
All Air Force aircraft are tested there, along with some Navy and Army aircraft, according to the base.
‘Arguably, more major milestones in flight have occurred at this base than anywhere else in the world,’ according to the base.
It’s run by the 412th Test Wing, which also conducts developmental testing of Air Force weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their life span.
