The appearance of an extraordinary spiral of blue light in the sky above New Zealand has inspired awe among stargazers, as well as speculations ranging from extraterrestrials to black holes.
“As I stood there staring up at it, I thought it was either aliens or a black hole that was opening up and we were all going to be sucked into it,” says one observer.
Alasdair Burns, who operates the star-gazing business Twinkle Dark Sky Tours, observed the phenomenon from Stewart Island.
He told the Stuff news website, “It was utterly bizarre.”
“It resembled a gigantic spiral. And it moved very, very slowly and peacefully to the north across the night sky before dissipating.”
“At first glance, it almost resembled a spiral galaxy suspended in the night sky,” he told TV3.
Jen Ross, also of Twinkle Dark Sky Tours, remarked, “We’ve never seen anything like it. Simply incredible.
As I stood there staring up at it, I thought it was either aliens or a black hole that was about to open and swallow us all.
What caused the actual light spiral?
Professor Richard Easther of the University of Auckland explained the probable cause of the extraordinary light display.
“From what we can tell,” he told TV3, “it’s caused by the sun catching the exhaust [fumes] from the second stage of a SpaceX rocket that re-ignited about an hour after it was placed in orbit.”
“I wish I’d been able to see it because it’s incredible.”
While Elon Musk’s SpaceX has yet to confirm responsibility for the phenomenon, the Falcon 9 rocket carrying Globalstar DM15 satellites on its third flight in 36 hours is widely believed to be at fault.
Mr. Burns, who photographed the spiral, explained how rockets could produce such an extraordinary celestial phenomenon.
“If that exhaust comes out in a direction other than straight out behind, it can cause the staged portion of the rocket to spin and act as a rocket sprinkler, causing the exhaust to spiral out,” he explained.
Professor Esther ruled out alien involvement, much to the dismay of those who believed the spiral to be evidence of extraterrestrial activity.
“I believe that was us,” he replied.
