TikTok Video of In-Flight Optical Illusion Goes Viral! TikTokers Solve Mystery—What Is It?

A TikTok video of an in-flight optical illusion is now going viral. It is not really common for airplane passengers to see unusual things out of their windows, especially during the night.

(Photo: Screenshot from official TikTok post of Brad Stewart)
TikTok Video of In-Flight Optical Illusion Goes Viral! TikTokers Solve Mystery—What is It?

However, this trending TikTok footage is pretty peculiar since what the TikToker saw was like an unrendered video game map, as described by other netizens who watched the video.

The viral TikTok video was posted by Brad Stewart. He said that he was on a flight from Vietnam to Australia when he saw the unusual light display outside his window seat.

Thanks to the help of other TikTokers, Stewart was able to answer this mystery. Here's what the airplane passenger saw.

TikTok Video of In-Flight Optical Illusion Goes Viral!

Brad Stewart posted the video of the in-flight optical illusion he saw on Dec. 9. As of writing, his content was able to generate over 14 million views, 6,800 comments, and more than 770,000 likes.

According to The New York Post's latest report, Stewart was confused with what he saw. Because of this, he asked some help from his followers and other netizens.

"Can somebody please tell me what these are? Flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne," captioned Brad on his official TikTok post.

If you watch the video, you will see that a nightscape riddled with neon-colored squares was seen outside the airplane's window. At first, other TikTokers were confused as well.

Since they didn't know the answer, many of them decided to share jokes about the optical illusion. Some said that these square lights were "post-it notes."

@brad..stewart1572 SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE #vietnam #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Brad stewart

Meanwhile, others described the lights as a map in a video game that wasn't rendered by developers properly. Aside from these, many TikTokers jokingly said that these square lights were just confetti from "stupid" gender reveal parties.

Luckily, some TikTokers made efforts to research it and discovered that these lights are actually from dragon fruit farms.

TikTok In-Flight Optical Illusion is Dragon Fruit Farms

(Photo: GERARDO MENOSCAL/AFP via Getty Images) Workers at El Cardon farm harvest pitahaya or dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus), in Rocafuerte, Manabi, Ecuador, on March 2, 2023. - In Ecuador, there are 1528 hectares of pitahaya production for export to more than 50 countries, led by the United States with more than 15,000 tonnes in 2021.

Agricultural experts said that dragon fruit farms usually have LEDs to help them grow. They explained that LED grow lights can trigger dragon fruits to flourish.

Agricultural centers usually help dragon fruits to continue growing from April to October using LEDs. Farmers said that LED grow lights can trick dragon fruit plants into thinking that it is still summer.

Thanks to these artificial lightings, dragon fruit farms can continue flowering and fruiting during the last months of the year; helping farmers boost their yields and profits.