Cliff Notes
- A large glowing spiral was observed in the night sky across the UK and Ireland, likely caused by frozen exhaust from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
- The phenomenon, which was visible for several minutes, reflects sunlight due to the rocket’s upper stages ejecting fuel that freezes at high altitude.
- Witnesses described the spiral as starting bright and hazy before transforming into a spinning shape, with reports of visibility as far as Denmark and Italy.
Glowing spiral appears in night sky – as Met Office reveals likely cause
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
Not quite, says the Met Office.
This large glowing spiral was spotted in the night sky across the UK and Ireland on Monday evening.
Stargazers from as far north as Denmark and as far south as Milan in Italy noted the cloud-like spiral was visible for several minutes before fading.
The Met Office explained in a post on X that the phenomenon was likely caused by frozen exhaust smoke from Elon Musk‘s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
“The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky,” the Met Office said.
These spirals form when ejected rocket fuel from the fast-spinning upper stages of the Falcon 9 gets frozen in space instantly because of the altitude.
The frozen swirls then reflect sunlight back towards Earth, which makes them visible in the night sky.
One Sky News reader from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire said the swirl “started off as a bright light, then [had] a blurry ring around it and then a spiral”.
“[It] hovered over this church for about five minutes then started moving and disappeared,” the reader added.
Meanwhile, Keeley Williams said the swirl “started off hazy, then became really bright before looking like it was spinning”.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched in Florida at around 5.50pm (1.50pm local time) on Monday on a classified US government mission.