STEVE Thesis
A new phenomenon like the aurora borealis called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is created by an electric field pointing poleward in the upper hemisphere and a magnetic field pointing downward, and they work together to make a drift going west. The ionosphere pulls solar particles to hit the neutral particles and they heat up, which makes the streaks of light.
Researchers first discovered STEVE after a Canadian Facebook group named the Alberta Aurora Chasers posted pictures of unusual vertical streaks of light in the sky, and they worked with the group to find out what conditions caused the phenomenon.