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Mysterious object: Eerie blue spiral in Hawaii's sky

05:00 PM
January 28, 2023

Mysterious object
Eerie blue spiral in Hawaii's sky

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"On January 18th, our Subaru-Asahi star camera captured a vortex that appeared over Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island."

A mysterious swirl of blue light was spotted in the night sky above Hawaii's Mauna Kea. But what was it?

A video dated January 18, 2023 showed a glowing blob of light moving across the sky in Mauna Kea for several minutes before disappearing, captured by the Japanese Subaru Telescope.

Well, it turns out, this alien-looking object was simply frozen rocket fuel from SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Once the satellite was deployed in space, and before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, the remaining rocket fuel was ejected, which resulted in a cloud of frozen fuel crystals.

Frozen rocket fuel has been known to create other magnificent displays before, with these so-called "SpaceX spirals" becoming more common.

Weather & Radar USA editorial team
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