BIOGRAPHY

A strange, pink glow illuminating the skies over East Yorkshire has led people to believe they had seen the Northern Lights.

Some even thought the mystery hue was the hallmark of extra terrestrials.

But the earthly reality is a little less exciting... unless you're an avid music fan, that is.

Bursting the bubble, Sam Forrest, lead vocalist and guitar player behind the glow, explained: "It's a new band that me, Eddie and Dom started."

The band is one of the latest new acts to start playing around Hull, having played a handful of shows and they are now recording their debut EP.

The Strange Pink band has been practicing at the Gorilla and much-missed Unit 45 practice rooms in Hull for two years.

So why are people only seeing the pink lights now?

The band's drummer, Dom Smith, said: "Because we are only just starting to perform shows in front of people."

Playing shows is needed to "increase exposure" in order for the band to maximise audience growth, he explained.

Roger Hill, an amateur musician who lives nearby, described the first time he saw the illumination.

He said: "I was like, whoa what on earth is that?"

"There was this massive pink light. It looked like a disc," he said.

"My brain initially went to 'it's a UFO'. But it wasn't moving.

"It obviously wasn't a UFO."

Mr Hill said he did not think the lights coming from music venues nearby were adding to light pollution.

The lights were visible a few weeks per year, said Mr Hill, adding they caused him "amusement not anger".

Those who want to believe may point out that the pink illuminations are visible on some nights and not on others.

Bringing us back to earth with a bump, Mr Forrest said a curtain was drawn over the band's practice rooms when the temperature hits a certain point.

"If the outside temperature is above 12C (54F), there's a discussion about whether the curtain is on or not," he said.

As well as more than halving his band's energy bill, Mr Forrest said the pink lights produced "far better" music.

"It's been a really good move for us," he said. "Last September we were facing an increase of over £1m in our electric bill. We wouldn't have been in business.

"We would've been finished."