Comments on: Temple Lights Guide Pilots?

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:16:44 +0000

I contacted the control tower at the Oakland International Airport and they confirmed that the Oakland Temple is used as a navigational landmark for pilots.

By: Sterling Siler

Sterling Siler — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:27:48 +0000

Love your sight! Thanks! We have a question for which we’ve been unable to find an answer; perhaps you’ll help? Which temples remain lit 24 hours? Thanks!

By: Ken D

Ken D — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:06:15 +0000

I have been on several night flights into both San Francisco and Oakland where the pilot came on the overhead speakers and pointed out the lights of the Oakland Temple. I don’t know if they use it to navigate, but some do make note of it being a landmark.

By: Zeitcast 2.9 « By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog

Zeitcast 2.9 « By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:40:50 +0000

[...] Zeitcast before we take a mid-season break. This time Amri and Ronan discuss temples as airport beacons, brother-husbands, and the identity of those who inherit the second degree in the celestial [...]

By: green mormon architect

green mormon architect — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:49:40 +0000

Interesting that the Bountiful Temple was singled out by National Geographic highlighting light pollution. One of my first posts – over a year ago (http://greenmormonarchitect.blogspot.com/2008/01/light-to-world.html) used the Bountiful Temple as an example of light pollution. Too random to be a coincidence I think…I finally saw a copy of the magazine today and they had a full two-page spread of the temple in the print edition only – not online. In fact there were a surprisingly high number of Utah images and references in the article.

By: Bradley

Bradley — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:55:52 +0000

Different locations and building codes sometimes require tall structures to have a light on top for a safety measure at night. It may depend on location and nearby structures. The Community of Christ temple in Independence, MO has a light that blinks and there isn’t any taller buildings nearby.

By: Arno Copley

Arno Copley — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:48:04 +0000

My mother Gunnel worked at the Oakland temple from 1974 to 1986. During the energy crunch of 1977-78 a decsision was made to turn the lights off at the Oakland temple at night to conserve energy, (just like during droughts the water in the fountains was turned off to avoid the perception of wasting water). From what my mother related fhe Oakland Port Authority which oversees the airport and port of Oakland which is the 3rd busiest port on the west coast, contacted the temple pesidency asking if the lights were turned off because the church could not pay the power bills and offered to pay to keep the lights on at night because airline pilots and ship pilots used the temple on the hill as a becon and a navigation point.

By: JR

JR — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:03:32 +0000

In the mid fifties when I was nine or ten years old, living in S. California, I heard the story about our newest Los Angeles temple being an aid to Ships at sea. This story is quite plausible considering the fog and low visibility of the coast. However, the beacon to help aircraft land at LAX is questionable.

By: Bryce Haymond

Bryce Haymond — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:54:00 +0000

There is a similar discussion going on over in the Snopes forums: http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=832552

By: CE

CE — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:31:30 +0000

I just read the Church News article that Connie linked to above. It’s an article on the Oakland temple, with stories from an old-timer from the area. The old-timer said that many years ago, air traffic control once frantically called asking the temple to turn its lights back on. But to me, this sounds like the Church News is merely reporting on someone telling an urban legend.