Alien hopes crash to earth as glowing spiral over UK traced to SpaceX rocket

Swirl visible for several minutes is thought to have been caused by frozen exhaust plume from Falcon 9

The truth is out there … it is just not quite as exciting as was hoped.

A large, glowing spiral that lit up the skies over the UK on Monday night and prompted speculation of an alien encounter is believed to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket.

Topics

SpaceX Rocket Launch Creates Glowing Spiral in the Night Sky for Europe

Frozen fuel from the Falcon 9 rocket launched Monday created a luminous display for several minutes, and was seen by people from England to Eastern Europe.
The New York Times - 4h
Spiral in the sky likely to be from SpaceX launch

The shape is thought to be the result of leftover fuel released into space as the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth.
BBC News - 14h
The enduring glow of London's historic gas lamps

London's gas lamps, which have cast their glow on the city for more than 200 years, have been nearly extinguished by the prevalence of cleaner, more efficient and brighter light sources, like LEDs. ...
CBS News - Mar. 16
Smoke plume over Disney World was caused by a walk-in cooler that caught fire

A smoke plume that towered over Walt Disney World Resort on Saturday was caused by a walk-in cooler that caught fire, a representative from Disney told AP.
NBC News - 2d
WATCH: SpaceX starship rocket explodes during test flight

Just minutes after a seemingly successful launch from Texas on Thursday night, Starship Flight Test 8 began to spin out of control when mission control lost contact with the unmanned rocket ship.
ABC News - Mar. 7
NASA’s SPHEREx, PUNCH missions launch on Falcon 9 rocket

Launching on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SPHEREx will map 450 million galaxies and could help unravel what happened after the Big Bang, while PUNCH will make ...
NBC News - Mar. 12
Crew lifts off on SpaceX mission to replace stuck Nasa astronauts

Falcon 9 rocket takes off on journey to replace duo who have been at International Space Station since June. The replacements for two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International ...
The Guardian - Mar. 14
Breaking down NASA's SpaceX mission launch from Kennedy Space Center

NASA launched SpaceX's Crew-10 mission from the Kennedy Space Center. A Falcon-9 rocket is carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station where they will meet astronauts Suni Williams ...
CBS News - Mar. 14
Strange spiral seen in the sky - BBC explains what it was

On Monday, stargazers may have noticed an unusual sight in the sky above the UK.
BBC News - 10h