COSMIC SECRETS
The Enigmas on Earth
Pillars of Light
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Joseph N. Hall  2005

Light pillars above the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The source is a pair of bright uncovered worklights a few thousand feet behind the trees. 
A light pillar is a visual phenomenon created by the reflection of light from ice crystals with near horizontal parallel planar surfaces. The light can come from the sun (usually at or low to the horizon) in which case the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. It can also come from the moon or from terrestrial sources such as streetlights.

Light pillar at sunset in Tuscon desert taken  in 11/24/2005 4:19Pm exposure:1/160sec focal length 42mm Iso speed:ISO-200
Sun Pillars
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AWe have to disagree. Let's take a look at the original article as it was published in the French popular science journal La Nature [5]. It suffices to read the original text to unravel the mystery: the beam of light depicted here is nothing but a sun pillar, a well-known optical phenomenon that is caused when the light of a low Sun reflects off billions of ice-crystals in the atmosphere.

The bigger part of the article in La Nature is a letter by one Mr. TRINCANO, who observed the display from the French village of Logelbach in the morning of March 22, 1878 (actually the article mentions two different dates: March 22 and March 23).

The first engraving shows the pillar as it appeared around 6:30 a.m. local time.

On the second drawing, not printed in The Age of the UFO, we can see the solar disc rise from behind the mountains. 
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