Travel
A strange sight out of a plane window on an evening flight from Vietnam to Australia has baffled social media users.
Hundreds of tiny orange and yellow squares can be seen lit up in the darkness below the aircraft in a video viewed more than 14 million times since being uploaded to TikTok earlier in December.
Brad Stewart filmed the view on his flight from Ho Chi Minh to Melbourne, asking people on the platform to tell him what the glowing squares were.
It is understood the Aussie traveler had caught footage of Vietnam’s dragon fruit farms, which are lit up at night to trigger flowering and fruiting and extend the growing season.
According to Atop Lighting, a horticulture lighting manufacturer in China, the usual dragon fruit season runs when the duration of daylight is 12 hours or more per day.
“One way to extend the growing season and increase the yield of dragon fruits is to use LED grow lights during the evening,” the manufacturer explains on its website. “By using LED grow lights, farmers can make the daylight longer and trick the plants into thinking that it is still summer.”
Vietnam was a huge exporter of dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or pitahaya, but according to local media, the country’s exports have plummeted since the pandemic.
Stewart’s video attracted thousands of comments and even after TikTok users had answered the lights were dragon fruit farms, people were still convinced it was a video of confetti on a concert or nightclub floor.
“My brain can’t do dragon fruit farms. lol. I see confetti,” one comment read, gaining more than 95,000 likes.
“Genuinely thought ur filming a concert floor full of confetti,” said another, with 36,000 likes.
“Could be dragon fruit farms or could be the world trying to render ur fast travel speed,” joked someone else.
Many others were convinced it was a video of sticky notes.
“No way this isn’t a bunch of cut up post-it notes,” wrote one person.
“Post-it notes floating on water,” stated another.
Some people claimed it was “a glitch in the matrix”, the moon reflecting off roofs, or even Christmas lights.
“That is wild, I would never have guessed,” said one of many shocked viewers.
“Finding out that they’re dragon fruit farms still doesn’t help me get my head around. I have some googling to do,” wrote another.
“Wow I’ve never seen this! So beautiful, looks like confetti. Adding a dragon fruit farm to my bucket list,” penned a third.
“I can’t even tell if I’m really looking out of an airplane window or not?” added one confused man.
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Tyler Fields is your internet guru, delving into the latest trends, developments, and issues shaping the online world. With a focus on internet culture, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, Tyler keeps readers informed about the dynamic landscape of the internet and its impact on our digital lives.
