A mysterious spiral was captured on camera over the U.S. on April 15.
The huge mystery spiral clung to the skies over Alaska, confusing locals, tourists and others who were hoping to catch a glimpse of an aurora, according to NBC Los Angeles. The spiral appeared to stretch over Donnelly Dome near Delta Junction, Alaska, and almost intertwined with the aurora as it grew across our atmosphere.
The spectacle lasted for at least a few minutes, allowing many photographs and videos of the phenomenon to be captured and shared widely online. But there is apparently a simple answer for the mystery: SpaceX.
Mystery spiral over Alaska skies on Saturday during the northern lights..!! pic.twitter.com/vSTyn1xLGB
— Joshua Rodriguez (@Joshuajered) April 17, 2023
“What we did finally chase it back to is that SpaceX launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets out of Vandenberg [Air Force Base, California],” University of Alaska geophysical institute team member Don Hampton told the BBC. “So it’s either the burn, in order to de-orbit that second stage, send out a whole bunch of basically water-vapor, which froze up. Or I think they also will dump their fuel before it comes down, so the second stage is a little lighter.”
During this stage, it “comes out in cold space and it freezes into ice crystals,” Hampton noted. These crystals then reflect sunlight, similarly to the earth’s moon. (RELATED: Pentagon Officials Suggest Aliens Could Send Probes To Earth)
As for the swirling image — the rocket was likely spinning, creating the spiral in the sky. Hampton compared the phenomenon to “a lawn sprinkler kind of effect.” He joked that seeing the spiral for the first time might make one think that an alien invasion has started.