A bright and beautiful sunshiny day here in Illinois, but …it is a cold SW wind out there. Guess it is winter time. I have seen the Northern lights when I was a little girl and the lights in the neighborhoods were few, so the stars were always so bright and beautiful. The N. lights were very visual at that time and I asked my dad what that sight was and he told me it was the sun shining off the ice in Alaska. That was good enough for me. So really, that is the only explanation I have ever heard. Could be true or not! Who ever doubts what their dad tells them?