Aurora has structure that clouds usually lack
Auroral curtains, rays and arcs can evolve over seconds while retaining large-scale alignment with the magnetic sky. Low cloud tends to drift as a textured layer, often brightening near cities and becoming more obviously cloud-like against stars or the Moon.
Cloud cover is not a side detail
A high modeled cloud fraction can completely change the interpretation of diffuse light. Sky Event Radar checks the selected hour against Open-Meteo cloud cover, visibility and precipitation before treating a green or red glow as an unobstructed sky phenomenon.
OVATION provides local context
NOAA OVATION estimates near-term auroral probability on a geographic grid. For sightings near the present time, the checker samples the grid near the observer instead of relying only on a global Kp number, producing much stronger local context.
Historical aurora claims need historical evidence
The live OVATION layer is not retroactively applied to last week. Older sightings keep that source marked unavailable rather than borrowing current geomagnetic conditions. This prevents a common but misleading form of hindsight matching.
Verify it with data
Use the Sky Event Radar checker with the actual location and time. The result can compare the observation pattern with modeled weather, current aircraft when applicable, NASA/JPL large-fireball records, NOAA aurora context, launch timing and local sky geometry. Missing feeds remain explicitly unknown.
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