The birth of the Messiah is accompanied by heavenly signs in both the Old World and the New World. They are not all the same signs, however, so the differences my have some significance that should be examined. The first important note for the signs in the New World is that Samuel gives signs for both the birth and death, and they form contrasting parallels. Compare the light at the birth to Samuel’s discussion of the death of the Messiah from later in this same text:
20 But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead.
The birth/death pair is dramatically accompanied and “signed” by a light/dark pairing of celestial phenomena. For the New World, the heavens themselves will note the events and will mark them. Significantly and appropriately, light is associated with the birth, and darkness with the death of the Messiah.
When light accompanies the birth of the Atoning Messiah in the New World, it apparently does not accompany the birth in the Old World. Surely had such a phenomenon occurred in the Old World it would have been noted and added to the record of the Savior’s birth by the evangelists who noted other signs and miracles. We must assume that the lighted night was a New World phenomenon, rather than a world-wide manifestation. What might have happened?
There are two possible explanations. Nibley suggests that the light was due to a supernova. He notes that there was such a supernova recorded in 1054 that “could be seen all over the world. It was almost as bright as the sun. The supernova exploded and became the Crab Nebula today.” (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon--Semester 1: Transcripts of Lectures Presented to an Honors Book of Mormon Class at Brigham Young University, 1988--1990 [Provo: Foundation for Ancient Re 280.)
Another possibility has no particular evidence except possible literary parallels. When we examine the evidence for the darkness at the time of Jesus’ death we will find that the conditions described fit the result of a particularly violent volcanic event. It is possible that in the Mesoamerican land of volcanism, that both the birth and death may have been signaled by volcanic activity, with the first providing light in the night sky, and the second providing the clouds of darkness that blocked the light of day. Even though unstated, such a parallel would fit the conceptual light/dark pairing, and would have been a significant cultural event for any Mesoamerican people. Fittingly enough, it would also be an event sufficiently natural that it could be explained away by the unbelievers, as this fulfillment of this prophecy appears to have been.