Lumenaalisia

Lumenaalisia is a term used in speculative science and worldbuilding to describe a class of luminous atmospheric phenomena that manifest as dynamic, filamentary light structures in the upper atmosphere. In fiction and hypothetical science, lumenaalisia may be invoked to explain sudden, shimmering displays that do not fit standard models of known phenomena such as the aurora.

The word is a neologism formed from elements meaning light, drawing on the Latin lumen, with a suffix that appears in various languages to denote plurality or collected phenomena. Its exact origin is informal and varies by author, and it is not an officially defined scientific term.

Lumenaalisia is described as producing forms such as curving ribbons, wispy filaments, and diffuse halos. Colors are typically blue, green, or violet, depending on assumed emission lines and atmospheric composition. Visual motion can be rapid, with shimmering patches appearing and fading over seconds to minutes. In speculative accounts, proposed mechanisms involve interactions between charged particles in a magnetically active upper atmosphere and photochemical processes that emit light without a single dominant spectrum.

Occurrence and interpretation of lumenaalisia are largely situational in worldbuilding contexts. It is often linked to strong geomagnetic activity, solar disturbances, or exotic atmospheric chemistry. In real-world science, there is no established evidence for lumenaalisia as a distinct phenomenon; it serves mainly as a conceptual or fictional construct alongside known displays such as aurora borealis, airglow, sprites, and elves.

See also: aurora borealis, airglow, sprites, elves.