INSANE: Eerie Blue Spiral Appears In Northern Lights Over Alaska

Observers of the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights in Alaska were witnesses to a surprise. Along with the majestic green bands of light stretching across the northern skies, a light, almost baby-blue spiral slightly resembling a barred galaxy emerged and spread across the sky for several minutes.

Speculation abounded about the cause of the phenomenon ranging from an alien invasion to a ‘visitor portal’ and even a wormhole. But the explanation while still very cool is much more Earthly.

Alien invasion? No, it’s science. Experts say the mystery spiral over Alaska skies on Saturday during the northern lights — captured in this time-lapse — was a vapor trail from a SpaceX rocket launch. https://t.co/6G6cf6oHaC pic.twitter.com/IQM39aHmNk

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 17, 2023

According to The Associated Press, excess fuel released from a recent SpaceX rocket launch in California approximately three hours before the phenomenon appeared is believed to be the cause.

Fuel from rocket launches sometimes needs to be jettisoned, the outlet reported, citing physicist Don Hampton of the University of Alaska’s Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.

Hampton explained,

“When they do that at high altitudes, that fuel turns into ice. And if it happens to be in the sunlight, when you’re in the darkness on the ground, you can see it as a sort of big cloud, and sometimes it’s swirly.”

While the situation is hardly common, the scientist told the AP he’s witnessed it about three times.

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The spiral was captured in numerous photos but most clearly represented through a time-lapse on the Geophysical Institute’s all-sky camera and has rapidly gone viral.

Andy Vermaut shares:SpaceX launch leaves mysterious blue spiral amid northern lights in Alaska night sky: The appearance of the swirl was caught in time-lapse on the Geophysical Institute’s all-sky camera and shared widely. https://t.co/2L6DMvwLS8 Thank you. pic.twitter.com/LqTLq7VYbw

— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) April 18, 2023

The launch was a polar trajectory for SpaceX to deploy a new constellation of 25 StarLink satellites and was visible over much of Alaska. The timing was perfect for a dramatically visible spiral.

“And we got that really cool-looking spiral thing,” Hampton added, obviously using the technical term.

“I can tell you it’s not a galaxy,” he clarified. “It’s just water vapor reflecting sunlight.”

Mark Thiessen writing for the AP noted that another similar spiral was seen over Hawaii by the cameras at the Mauna Kea Observatory near the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan’s Subaru telescope.

That spiral was revealed to be due to a Military GPS satellite launch also conducted by SpaceX from Florida.

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