Phantom God-rays?

What causes this? See the faint God-rays centered on the image...

I don't specifically remember taking this (I mean, it was 12 years ago...) but I just saw it while browsing some older images. I know the general location well and remember the trip / shoot itself, just not this specific image. It was taken looking more-or-less south off Rich Mountain, on one of the Talimena Drive scenic overlooks near Mena, Arkansas (most likely Grandview Vista).

EXIF says it's a 10 second exposure, 17mm at f/6.3, taken at 7:19 PM on April 3, 2010, which would put it about 20 minutes before local sunset per timeanddate.com. The brightest part of the shot does appear to be above the horizon but 20 minutes before theoretical sunset -- i.e., above a flat horizon, not merely the mountains -- that would be about 5 degrees angular distance. At 17mm, it appears to be higher than that in the shot. Maybe not.

Back then, I had no ND filters so maybe (?) I used a CPL to help stretch exposure, but that seems unlikely. After all, 10 seconds is only 1/3 of the longest timed exposure I could do natively in-camera.

Actually, I kinda like the abstract way it looks and everything else about it makes sense. Just not the radial rays. Got me to wondering.

Hmmm....

I thought about that, but the EXIF shows 17mm. Then again, that might be read at the moment of exposure only. I don't see any streaking elsewhere, though. The clouds show a little lateral movement, but not radial, nor do the hills. The lights to the left show a little elongation, but it looks more like distortion to me. A zoom long enough to cause the rays would've stretched them out further, I would think.

Actually zooming was my first thought, but if so, it sure didn't affect the image otherwise.

Weird.......