BMO Field

People are worried about eerie yellow glow over Toronto

A strange yellow glow emanating from the southwestern portion of Toronto has drawn many quizzical and even worried reactions on social media over the last month or so.

On foggy nights, the eerie yellow haze can encompass a huge portion of the city's sky and looks much like the lighting effects from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

As much as I'd love to report that Toronto is regularly being visited by aliens, the answer is a bit more down to earth, or turf, if you will. The bright yellow glow comes primarily from the grass growing lights at BMO Field.

The stadium has solicited the services of SGL (Stadium Grass Lighting) to keep its turf in the best shape possible. With both Toronto FC and the Argonauts using the field, it's one of the busiest natural grass surfaces in North America that's not used for baseball.

The reason the glow we see at night is yellow/orange is that the special lights they use to accelerate grass growth are meant to mimic the sun's rays, which makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it.

Chatter about the glow has increased since late February as efforts ramp up to prepare the field for the upcoming season. TFC's home opener against Sporting Kansas City takes place on March 31.

Lead photo by

@bret.kelly


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