2014-09-23 - Haleakala National Park, HI

Bright white dome-shaped light seen at pre-dawn on summit of Haleakala on Maui.

Early on Tuesday morning September 23, 2014, my husband and I drove to the summit of Haleakala National Park, on the island of Maui, to view the sunrise. We arrived at the summit around 4:30 a.m. It was cold and extremely windy. There were already a few tour shuttles that had arrived, and approximately six or seven other cars that had arrived. I got out of the car to use the restroom at the visitor’s center and looked around a bit. It was pitch dark, and, since it was way too early for the sunrise, I went back to the car to keep warm.

Our car was parked approximately 15-20 yards from the visitor’s center and the accompanying railing constructed there, along which people stand, facing east, to view the sunrise.

Once I was back in our car, I noticed a strange white glow emanating from the area of the visitor’s center or just beyond it (to the south/southeast). From my perspective, sitting in our vehicle, it looked like a half-circle or dome of white light illuminating the area of the mountain just on the other side of the viewing railing and extending above approximately two stories high. So, relatively close by. The defined outer edge of the “dome” was distinctly brighter than the interior. The interior was translucent but very white. The outer edge made a sharp, bright, distinct border.

I wondered if it was some sort of pre-dawn phenomenon having to do with the moon, or the coming sun, and the clouds. I said to my husband, “Look at that dome of white light over by the visitor’s center. What is that?” But he was already dozing off, resting after the somewhat challenging drive to the summit in the pitch dark.

I very much wanted to get out and take a closer look. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. But my desire to stay out of the extreme wind and cold won over, and I continued to view it from inside the car. I nodded off, since we’d gotten up at 2am to make the drive from the Ka’anapali Beach area to the summit. I napped for about 45 minutes, after which time my husband and I got out of the car to position ourselves amongst the gathering crowd to view the sunrise. I did not even remember seeing the white light… …until, three days later, after boarding our flight home from Maui, we struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to me on the plane, and discovered that he and his wife had also gone to the summit of Haleakala on September 23rd to see the sunrise. And he said to us, “Did you see a mysterious white light when you were there, while it was still dark?” To which I replied, “YES!” I’d forgotten all about it until he mentioned it. From his perspective, when he saw the light (I believe he said he was standing outside when he saw it), he observed a complete circle hovering in the air. I don’t recall him mentioning how nearby it seemed, or how high above ground he thought it was. His description matched mine in that he said it had a white translucent center and a bright, sharp, defined outside edge. He said he’d been searching the Internet for an explanation of what it could have been, but without much success, as he wasn’t sure what phrases to search on; it was so difficult! to describe.

I finally got around to doing my own Internet search on this phenomenon last Friday (October 4). That’s when I found this web site.