Very interesting, thanks for posting.
My first thought, was that this was definitely lens flare.
Assuming that the people saw it in the sky as the reports suggest however, would indicate otherwise.
If it is true that it was really witnessed in the sky by people with the naked eye, lens flare can be ruled out.
The next possible explaination is that it is a sundog.
en.wikipedia.org...
However, Sundogs only appear in-line horizontally with the sun and the object in the photo appears to be to the upper left of the sun seemingly ruling
out a sundog.
Unless the camera was tilted at an angle when the photo was taken, which is certainly possible. Sundogs can also be red in colour.
In my opinion this is an atmoshperic phenomenon such as a sundog or maybe something similar which is rarer.
thanks again for posting
