by It may have a strange, UFO-like appearance, but that mysterious blue spiral in the sky has a much more mundane explanation.
The spectacular sight – which has baffled skywatchers over Hawaii – is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch.
It was captured by the Subaru Telescope, located atop Maunakea, shortly after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a GPS satellite into space for the US Space Force last Wednesday.
“On January 18, 2023 (HST), the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera captured a mysterious flying spiral over Maunakea, Hawaii,” officials from the Subaru Telescope at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan tweeted.
“The spiral seems to be linked to the launch of a new satellite by the company SpaceX.”
Odd: It may have a strange, UFO-like appearance, but that mysterious blue spiral in the sky has a much more mundane explanation
Citizen scientist and satellite tracker Scott Tilley responded, saying the positioning of the spiral almost perfectly matches where the second stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket would likely be minutes after launch.
The first stage, meanwhile, returned to Earth aboard a drone at sea.
‘Fuel vent from the F9 2nd stage from the NAVSTAR 82 (USA 343) [55268, 2023-009A] launch,” Tilley wrote.
“Back-propagated payload orbital elements reveal a very close match around 2023-01-18T14:40 UTC.”
SpaceX launched the GPS satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday at 7:24 a.m. ET (12:24 p.m. GMT).
Sharing their discovery on their official YouTube channel, the Subaru Telescope team wrote: “At first it was just a small dot in the center left of the view.
“Then it ejected an arc-shaped feature. It got slightly taller…
“A bright point appeared in the drop and then it turned into a spiral.”
Experts say the spiral shape appears as the Falcon 9’s upper stage vents waste fuel during its long descent into the ocean.
When the rocket fuel is ejected, it freezes and crystallizes into a spiral shape, which is then illuminated by the sun.
This isn’t the first time a SpaceX launch has led observers to believe there might be UFOs present.
In June last year, a mysterious blue spiral crossing the New Zealand sky baffled onlookers who thought it had extraterrestrial origins.
The spectacular sight – which has baffled skywatchers over Hawaii – is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch
“On January 18, 2023 (HST), the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera captured a mysterious flying spiral over Maunakea, Hawaii,” officials from the Subaru Telescope at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan tweeted.
Liftoff: SpaceX launched the GPS satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday at 07:24 ET (12:24 GMT)
The spiraling plume of gas lit up the sky over Nelson, a town at the tip of New Zealand’s South Island, and traveled 750km south to Stewart Island.
However, experts later revealed that the phenomenon was caused by man-made space debris in the form of a dying rocket launched by Musk’s company.
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January 2022 has also been blamed on Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX.
Last year, the company achieved a record 61 launches, nearly double its 31 liftoffs from 2021.
So far in 2023 it has sent five rockets into space in just 19 days, which means if SpaceX keeps up that pace it will fly 96 missions by the end of this year.
This isn’t the first time a SpaceX launch has led observers to believe there might be UFOs present. This image was taken by a US Air Force crew member somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
In June last year, a mysterious blue spiral traveling across New Zealand skies baffled onlookers who believed it had extraterrestrial origins.
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January 2022 has also been blamed on Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX
