Light Pillars, Not To Be Confused With Aurora

Getting out of my car for work early this morning I looked up into the dark sky and witnessed faint illuminated streaks. Were these funky lined-up contrails? Or cirrus clouds? Or aurora? As they persisted, I got out my Aurora Alert app. It showed activity, but far to the north--way above Iowa, and these were south and east. That couldn't be it. So what was it?

I would correctly surmise that ice crystals had something to do with it as the temperature was zero degrees F with 92% humidity.

As it turned out, many others had also seen the event and it was already posted on the news. These were rare light pillars. Caused by suspended or lightly sinking ice crystals being reflected by city lights. The pillars appear nearly 100% vertical, though this is an optical illusion. This image looks east toward Cedar Rapids from Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa at 6:16 am CST, Wednesday, February 13, 2019. iPhone 6-Plus camera.