NPR⁠84%

North America poised for light display of aurora borealis ⁠53%

By Alana Wise⁠0%

5/16/2026, 6:07:59 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Biased Writer Voice, and Framing Effect, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 31.3% saturation with 94 hits. Analysis detected 792 faulty-reasoning hits from 300 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51.8% and a BS Rank of ⁠53% (10,332 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 52.80% of the article peer group.

Brilliant splashes of green, purple and pink will streak the night sky for many stargazers in North America on Saturday and Sunday night, as energized particles from space collide with the Earth's atmosphere to create the dazzling effect, known as the Northern Lights or aurora borealis. 
The northern United States and much of Canada will have the best view of the natural aurora phenomenon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 
The best sightings will come from where the aurora is directly overhead, but hopefuls can catch sight of the light show from up to 1000 km away. 
The best time to catch the streaks of light will be just after sunset or just before sunrise; the aurora is not visible during the day. 
The beautiful display of lights results from a form of space weather, according to NASA, when high-energy space particles violently collide with atoms of gas in a planet's atmosphere, close to its magnetic pole. 
The geomagnetic storm causing this latest aurora is expected to be at its strongest on Saturday night, and will provide onlookers with their best chance to see the show, according to the NOAA. 
Catching these lights can be a rare treat for some who do not live near the poles, where auroras occur most commonly. 
In North America, auroras are typically best observed in March and November, for reasons scientists still don't fully understand. 
They are usually most visible in the Earth's northernmost latitudes, in countries including Russia, Norway, Sweden and territories like Greenland and Alaska. 
"For many people, the aurora is a beautiful nighttime phenomenon that is worth traveling to arctic regions just to observe," says NOAA "It is the only way for most people to actually experience space weather." 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 4.8%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 22.7%Alana Wise: 10.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.8%Availability Heuristic22.7%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic7.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.8%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 26.3%Alana Wise: 11.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.1%Framing Effect26.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 23.7%Alana Wise: 7.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.4%Optimism Bias23.7%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 2.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Pessimism Bias7.3%This article: 11.3%Alana Wise: 10.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 11.3%Negativity Bias11.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 6.3%Alana Wise: 0.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Fundamental Attribution Error6.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.3%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 11.0%Alana Wise: 2.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.7%Recency Bias11.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 2.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.2%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 31.3%Alana Wise: 7.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.1%Appeal to Authority31.3%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 1.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%False Dilemma11.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 5.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 4.4%Hasty Generalization7.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 1.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.7%Bandwagon11.7%This article: 27.0%Alana Wise: 14.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 6.6%Appeal to Emotion27.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.4%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 10.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 2.8%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 9.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)9.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.5%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 1.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.3%Unattributed Quote11.7%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 0.7%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.9%Quote-first Misdirection11.7%This article: 26.7%Alana Wise: 4.2%Goats and Soda (NPR): 3.1%Biased Writer Voice26.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.0%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.6%Goats and Soda (NPR): 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%Goats and Soda (NPR): 0.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

300 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers43%attributed speech171writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 46 words • 100.0% coverageNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageNASA • 34 words • 100.0% coverageNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) • 35 words • 100.0% coverage
100%flagged-word coverage
95 attributed words74% of attributed speech85% writer coverage
0%20.0%40.0%Unattributed Quote+36.8 ptsWriter: 0.0%National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): 36.8%36.8%Quote-first Misdirection+36.8 ptsWriter: 0.0%National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): 36.8%36.8%Biased Writer Voice-26.9 ptsWriter: 26.9%National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.