Light Pillars

Like ice halos and arcs, light pillars are formed by ice crystals. However, the way they are formed is much less complex – light simply reflects off of ice crystals in the air. Some pillars are caused by sunlight, while they can also be created by moonlight, and even the light from Venus!
City or other terrestrial lights can also be a light source to create pillars. The light pillars in the photo are caused by artificial lights in Paraparaumu, reflecting off of ice crystals in the air and back towards the viewer.

Photo taken by Leah Cameron in May 2016.