Pretty common misidentification of atmospheric phenomena but somebody just pressed the sky's "degauss" button.
This clearly has Timelapse, but is there any other enhancement done to it? I assume not, but the only time I’ve seen the aurora was dull white and I hear it does real colors but have never seen it despite living “in range” my whole life so gotta ask.
Importantly if this isn’t color altered, how the fuck does anyone sleep there??? I wouldn’t be able ever I’d be out every night looking for this shit.
This is a real phenomenon, but it happens rarely and only on very cold days. I've seen this with my own eyes, but it wasn't this colourful. I wouldn't be surprised if someone cranked up the contrast in post.
But speaking of northern lights: there is a wide range of how bright and colourful they are, based on all sorts of atmospheric conditions I'm not qualified to explain. But I've seen some extremely bright auroras and some that were barely visible. You probably just saw a very weak example.
When the conditions are right, the northern lights can take your breath away.