A large glowing spiral that appeared in the sky above the UK on Monday night is believed to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launched on a secret mission for the US Government.
The spiral shape, which was visible for around ten minutes before fading, is believed to have been caused by leftover fuel released by the rocket in space.
The Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk's spaceX company lifted off around 5:50pm Monday on a classified mission for the US government.
The spiral was spotted in the sky over Penrith and across the UK just before 7pm.
The rocket is thought to have caused the glowing spiral after it ejected leftover fuel before returning to earth, The fuel freezes instantly in space in a spiral pattern caused by the rocket's movement. Light is then reflected off the frozen fuel, making it visible on Earth.
The glowing swirl was photographed across the UK on Monday Evening and was also seen across Europe.
The MetOffice on Monday Evening said “We've received many reports of an illuminated swirl in the sky this evening”
“This is likely to be caused by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched earlier today”.
SpaceX said on X the launch was carried out on behalf of the US government National Reconnaissance Office mission. The Kennedy Space Center also said on X the launch was a classified mission for that office.
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