Suddenly finding yourself in a street bathed in garish purple light can be unsettling. But a bigger concern is that this light can change how drivers and pedestrians perceive their surroundings.

Photograph by Sarah McCosham. T here’s a well-known saying that it’s darkest before dawn. And indeed, it is—but there is beauty in the darkness, just as there’s beauty in the cold of winter. For the ...

Grandma Hill lives in Natomas and got the video on her cell phone of little Johnny, 8, and Audrey, 5, praying about this mysterious purple light. "Hey, God. Please help me.