Blue beam of light detectable from space slices through London sky, as people ask what is it

A strong beam of light cutting the sky in half baffled Londoners over the weekend. It peered through the sky to an extreme height and appeared to be something straight out of science fiction, similar to an alien invasion movie. What people were seeing was one of the most powerful lasers on Earth and visible for kilometres.

One Londoner explained that the light was emitting from the Danish Church in Regent’s Park. "This is apparently an art installation laser shining tonight in north London, & not The War of the Worlds," the person explained on X.

So even though the light was not linked to any mystifying source, there was still something extremely fascinating about it. The artist behind the installation said that it was a modified military-grade laser system which emitted a high-intensity beam of light. During the tests, it was even "detected from the International Space Station", stationed 402 kilometres above Earth. The laser display appeared after sunset on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October.

Light installation by famous artist known for his work with light beams

The light which can be seen from space was the work of a British artist, Chris Levine, who has previously talked about his desire to use the laser beam to "make light, not war". He is known for his pioneering work with light and lasers, and works primarily at the intersection of light, optics, geometry, and sacred space.

One of his most famous works is the Lightness of Being, a holographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The other one is Equanimity, also a meditative, laser-scanned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. He also has light sculptures and physical installations to his credit, like Light is LOVE, Geometry of Truth, etc.