A videograb shows blood-red sky over Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.

Gulf Today Report

A strange sight of a blood-red sky over a city near Shanghai, China, has caused panic and fear among the residents about Armageddon, or some supernatural activity.

The footage, taken by residents of Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province, shows the night sky turning orange and red, amid a thick layer of fog.

Videos on social platforms in China documented the phenomenon that occurred on May 7.

In response to the speculation circulated by activists on Chinese social media, the Zhoushan Meteorological Bureau clarified that it was nothing supernatural.

"It was quite foggy, and clouds were forming at a lower altitude," a spokesperson said. "This is a phenomenon caused by the refraction of light," he added.

According to Chinese media, a local fishing company confirmed that the refraction of the light came from one of its fishing boats.

"The red lights came from our fishing boats...we turned them on when we were catching saury," the company's deputy director said.

A combo image shows blood-red sky over Zhejiang Province.

He continued, "The red light was refracted from above the water's surface and shining in the sky, causing a mirage-like phenomenon... It is very common, especially around coastal areas."

Some netizens pointed out that the red sky appeared for nine days in many countries in 1770, which Japanese scientists claimed in an academic article in 2017 was caused by massive solar activity.

In response, an expert from the space physics research team of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan told the media: Solar and geomagnetic activity was quiet on Saturday and there were no significant cases of solar activity according to monitoring records, ruling out the possibility of this happening in Zhoushan.