North America poised for light display of aurora borealis ⁠60%

By Alana Wise⁠0%

5/16/2026, 4:31:21 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Halo Effect, and Appeal to Emotion, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 57.3% saturation with 172 hits. Analysis detected 1,088 faulty-reasoning hits from 300 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 56.1% and a BS Rank of ⁠60% (8,794 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 59.80% 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: 9.0%Alana Wise: 4.8%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias9.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.3%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 10.2%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic7.3%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 1.7%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic7.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 8.7%Alana Wise: 1.4%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias8.7%This article: 12.0%Alana Wise: 11.6%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect12.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.7%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 57.3%Alana Wise: 7.0%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias57.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 2.0%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 15.3%Alana Wise: 10.2%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias15.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.7%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.4%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.2%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 38.3%Alana Wise: 3.7%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect38.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 11.0%Alana Wise: 2.0%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias11.0%This article: 3.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect3.0%This article: 6.3%Alana Wise: 0.5%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias6.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 2.7%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 31.3%Alana Wise: 7.7%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority31.3%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 1.2%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma11.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.6%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 5.7%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.6%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 38.3%Alana Wise: 14.1%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion38.3%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 0.9%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question11.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 1.7%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.4%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.3%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 7.3%Alana Wise: 10.5%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal7.3%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 8.7%Alana Wise: 1.7%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)8.7%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.5%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 1.0%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote11.7%This article: 11.7%Alana Wise: 0.7%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection11.7%This article: 45.7%Alana Wise: 4.2%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice45.7%This article: 9.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination9.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 3.6%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.9%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Alana Wise: 0.0%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

300 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers43%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 • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageNASA • 34 words • 100.0% coverageNOAA • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageNOAA • 35 words • 100.0% coverage
Selected voice

NOAA

100%flagged-word coverage
68 attributed words53% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%27.5%55.0%Unattributed Quote+51.5 ptsWriter: 0.0%NOAA: 51.5%51.5%Quote-first Misdirection+51.5 ptsWriter: 0.0%NOAA: 51.5%51.5%Biased Writer Voice+11.7 ptsWriter: 39.8%NOAA: 51.5%51.5%

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

Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…

Analysis

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