Night Sky Spectacle: Rocket Debris Creates Stunning Spiral Lights Across Eastern US
A captivating display of spiraling lights illuminated the night sky across a wide swath of the eastern United States on Tuesday evening, initially startling observers who were anticipating the Perseid meteor shower. Videos began surfacing online shortly after 9 p.m. ET from states including Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska, prompting inquiries to local news outlets such as ABC Philadelphia’s WPVI station.
Witnesses described the luminous phenomenon as lights appearing to circle in the heavens, seemingly “out of nowhere.” Astrophysicist Jonathan C. McDowell, affiliated with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, attributed the majority of these sightings to the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket. This European rocket successfully departed from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, at approximately 8:37 p.m. ET, as confirmed by Eumetsat, a European meteorological satellite agency. The towering Ariane 6, standing nearly 196 feet tall, is designed to transport various payloads—ranging from scientific instruments to telecommunications equipment—for purposes like Earth observation and navigation.
The spiral appearance resulted from the rocket’s upper stage tumbling during a disposal burn after its primary mission phase. McDowell explained that this creates a unique visual effect as sunlight reflects off frozen fuel residue ejected in the exhaust, forming a distinct spiral shape unimpeded by atmospheric distortion due to the vacuum of space. Tuesday’s launch successfully placed a weather satellite into orbit; it represents only the third operational mission for the Ariane 6 rocket.
Adding complexity to the situation, another rocket—the Vulcan Centaur Rocket—also achieved liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 8:56 p.m. ET, under the auspices of a United Launch Alliance mission. This 202-foot rocket carried two experimental navigation satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s inaugural endeavor. McDowell suggested that individuals in Florida might have observed this second launch’s effects – specifically its coasting trajectory – roughly between 9:37 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. ET, contributing to the overall display of aerial lights.
