Blue beam seen in the sky over London was a King's Cross light artwork
People across north and central London were left puzzled by a straight blue line of light rising into the clouds on Saturday night. It came from Higher Power, a laser work by London artist Chris Levine, shown during Frieze week.
Video: @bs_babz
A thin blue beam of light that shot straight up into the London night sky on Saturday 17 October came from an art installation in King's Cross, not from anything more mysterious.
The beam was seen at about 9.15pm over Camden, Islington, Covent Garden and Regent's Park. Footage shared with UB1UB2 shows the light rising above a terraced street and fading into low cloud. Many people who saw it said they had no idea what it was.
Guesses ranged from aliens to a lighting test. The likely source was Higher Power, a laser installation by the London-based British light artist Chris Levine, which was being shown at Town Hall by Bottaccio on Bidborough Street in King's Cross.
Part of a Frieze week exhibition
Higher Power was shown alongside The Light Eaters, an exhibition at the venue that brings together light, sound and movement. It opened with a preview evening on Friday 16 October, during the closing weekend of the Frieze art fair.
Listings said Higher Power could be seen after dark over the weekend, with the installation due to run until Sunday 18 October. The exhibition also included Chasing the Dot, an immersive work by artist Philip Vermeulen, on 17 and 18 October.
People linked to the venue described the piece as a matrix of lasers vibrating at 432Hz, a frequency some link to harmony and healing. The work is meant to draw people's eyes up to the sky after dark.
From Venice to King's Cross
The artwork has been shown before. Levine showed an earlier version at Houghton Festival in 2025, and in spring 2026 he unveiled a new version on San Clemente Island for the opening of the Venice Biennale. There it shone for seven nights in a row and appeared as a green ring hanging over the lagoon.
Levine works across music, performance, fashion and design, and much of his work explores how light shapes the way people experience the world.
On Saturday night the beam's height and colour made it visible over a wide area. People posted pictures from several parts of the capital, many asking the same question about the straight blue line in the sky.
The King's Cross showing has now finished. Details of past and future showings of Higher Power are on Chris Levine's website.