‘Truly a spectacle!’ Eerie bloom of light over the Atlantic Ocean left by a SpaceX rocket launch leaves US Air Force crew ‘dumbfounded’
- A bizarre bloom of light in sky over the Atlantic Ocean left a US Air Force crew ‘dumbfounded’ at the weekend
- It was later blamed on SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday
- Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the station
- It was later that day that the amazing pictures were taken by US Air Force crew 37,000ft above Atlantic Ocean
It may have an eerie, UFO-like appearance but this bloom of light in the sky is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch.
The spectacular and colourful sight was so bewildering that, when it was spotted by a US Air Force crew, they said the unusual phenomenon left them ‘dumbfounded’.
On Saturday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
It was later that day that the amazing pictures were taken 37,000ft above the Atlantic Ocean.
Staff Sergeant Christian Magliocca, who was unable to reveal exactly where the images were snapped because it is classified, said he and his crew were ‘confused’ after spotting an unidentified bloom of light from the deck of their huge transport aircraft.
Fascinating: It may have an eerie, UFO-like appearance but this bloom of light in the sky is actually part of the aftermath of a SpaceX rocket launch
The spectacular and colourful sight was so bewildering that when it was spotted by a US Air Force crew they said the unusual phenomenon had left them ‘dumbfounded’
On Saturday, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (pictured)
The 15th Airlift Squadron loadmaster said: ‘These pictures were taken at 37,000ft from the flight deck of a C-17 Globemaster III somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
‘We saw it coming over the horizon and were really confused as to what it could be.
‘At first we thought it was the Artemis Launch that keeps getting pushed back.’
However, the otherworldly-like encounter was later identified as being linked to the SpaceX satellite launch.
Staff Sgt. Magliocca added: ‘For us, the event lasted around ten minutes from start to finish. Truly a spectacle.
‘I’m a loadmaster on the C17 so my role is all things related to the cargo compartment of the aircraft.
‘The pilots and my other load flying partner were absolutely dumbfounded.
Staff Sgt. Christian Magliocca (pictured) said he and his crew were ‘confused’ after spotting an unidentified bloom of light from the deck of their huge transport aircraft
Not for the first time, the otherworldly-like encounter was later identified as being linked to the SpaceX satellite launch
‘I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will never forget it for as long as we live.’
Several times this year a SpaceX launch has left observers thinking there might be UFOs present.
In June, a mysterious blue spiral travelling across New Zealand’s skies baffled onlookers who thought it had alien origins.
The spiralling plume of gas lit up the sky over Nelson, a city at the tip of New Zealand’s south island, and travelled 750km south to Stewart Island.
However, experts later revealed that the phenomenon was caused by man-made space junk in the form of a dying rocket launched by Musk’s company.
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January was also blamed on Starlink satellites being launched by SpaceX.
In June, a mysterious blue spiral travelling across New Zealand’s skies baffled onlookers who thought it had alien origins
A trail of mysterious moving lights that shocked Australians in January was also blamed on Starlink satellites being launched by SpaceX
ELON MUSK’S SPACEX BRINGS BROADBAND INTERNET TO THE WORLD WITH ITS STARLINK CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched more than 3,000 of its ‘Starlink’ space internet satellites into orbit and hopes to have 30,000 in the sky.
They form a constellation designed to provide low-cost broadband internet service from low Earth orbit.
While satellite internet has been around for a while, it has suffered from high latency and unreliable connections.
Starlink is different. SpaceX said its goal is to provide high-speed, low-latency internet all over the world – especially to remote areas.
Musk has previously said the venture could give three billion people who currently do not have access to the internet a cheap way of getting online.
It will also help fund a future city on Mars.
Helping humanity reach the Red Planet and become multi-planetary is one of Musk’s long-stated aims and was what inspired him to start SpaceX.
Musk’s rival Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, also plans to launch a constellation of low Earth-orbit satellites to provide broadband access to remote areas, as part of its Project Kuiper.
However, astronomers have raised concerns about the light pollution and other interference cased by these satellite constellations.
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