The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) is a sensitive scanning instrument mounted on the Coriolis satellite that assembles an approximately all-sky image of the heliosphere in red-biased visible light once per orbit. Its lines of sight pass obliquely through the topside ionosphere and magnetosphere. We present serendipitous observations of a visual phenomenon detected at high altitudes (greater than or equal to 840 km) over the auroral zones and polar caps. ...