The planet Mars shining bright and red in the night sky sparked two major maritime emergency searches on the west coast.
Fears a ship was sinking were triggered when alerts of distress flares being seen at sea were received by Stornoway Coastguard at the same time around 9pm on Wednesday night.
A mayday alert was relayed via radio to all ships and Stornoway and Oban lifeboats launched.
A Stornoway Coastguard spokesperson said: “Red lights in the sky were reported and tied into the same area.
“Both reports came in at the same time.”
A yacht sailing in the Western Isles spotted what they thought was a maritime emergency signal indicating a vessel was in serious trouble.
Stornoway RNLI lifeboat and fishery patrol ship FPV Minna commenced a search for the potential casualty between the Shiants and Point in Lewis.
The commander of the area coastguard rescue team was also summoned.
A second caller from Argyll believed they saw flares set off near the island of Lismore in Argyll around 9pm on Wednesday night.
Oban lifeboat sped to the position and a mayday relay alarm transmitted to shipping on emergency VHF channel 16.
The Oban coastguard rescue team were mobilised as was the Appin inshore response team.
After the search got underway coastguards obtained a photo of the scene and concluded the red lights were “attributed to the plant Mars.”
Mars mistaken for sinking ship's distress flare
6 September 2018