Space jellyfish

Rocket launch phenomenon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A space jellyfish (also jellyfish UFO or rocket jellyfish) is a rocket launch-related phenomenon caused by sunlight reflecting off the high-altitude rocket plume gases emitted by a launching rocket during morning or evening twilight. The observer is in darkness, while the exhaust plumes at high altitudes are still in direct sunlight. This luminous apparition is reminiscent of a jellyfish.[1][2][3] Sightings of the phenomenon have led to panic, fear of nuclear missile strike, and reports of unidentified flying objects.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

A similar effect is the twilight phenomenon.

List of rocket launches causing space jellyfish

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Rocket launch Payload Date Location Summary Notes References
Falcon 9
Starlink Mission 22 April 2026 Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E Evening launch (8:23 pm PDT) creates a jellyfish. [10]
Falcon 9 Starlink Mission 28 September 2025 Vandenberg Space Force Base SLC-4E Evening launch creates a jellyfish.
Falcon 9 Starlink Group 10-26 26 July 2025 Florida SLC-40 Early morning (5:01AM) Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by the rising Sun. [11]
Falcon 9 Starlink Mission 10 February 2025 Vandenberg Space Force Base California SLC-4E Evening launch (6:09 PM) creates a jellyfish plume across California skies.
Falcon 9
Starlink Mission 3 July 2024 Florida SLC-40
Firefly Alpha flight FLTA005 Eight CubeSats 3 July 2024 Vandenberg Space Force Base [12]
Falcon 9 flight 361 Starlink Group 9-1 18 June 2024 Vandenberg Space Force Base
Falcon 9 flight 339 Starlink Group 6-63 24 May 2024 Florida Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. [13]
Falcon 9 flight 338 Starlink Group 6-62 23 May 2024 Florida Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. [14]
Falcon 9 flight 232 Transporter 8 12 June 2023 Vandenberg Space Force Base Afternoon launch – plume observed over Eastern Europe, approximately 75 minutes after launch
Test flight of an unidentified Indian missile None 15 December 2022 India, Myanmar, Bangladesh An early evening test launch. Assumed to be of an Agni-V ICBM [15]
Falcon 9 flight 152 Starlink Group 4–17 6 May 2022 Florida An early-morning launch causing UFO reports [16]
Falcon 9 flight 126 Inspiration4 15 September 2021 Florida The first fully civilian crewed orbital spaceflight, launched from Cape Canaveral after sunset [17]
Soyuz-2.1.a launch Progress MS-17 29 June 2021 European Russia A Soyuz-2.1a launched the Progress MS-17 to the International Space Station from Baikonur Site 31 on 29 June 2021. As the rocket reached the upper atmosphere the expanded rocket plume was illuminated by the Sun, creating a "jellyfish". [18][19]
Falcon 9 flight 114 SpaceX Crew-2 23 April 2021 Florida A crewed Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn. The "jellyfish" lasted over 10 minutes after liftoff. In addition to the "jellyfish" created by the second stage, the returning first stage also made visible plumes. [20][21][22]
Falcon 9 flight 62 SAOCOM 1A 8 October 2018 California A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk; causing UFO reports [23][24][25]
Falcon 9 flight 57 SpaceX CRS-15 29 June 2018 Florida An East Coast launch off Florida, in the pre-dawn [1]
Soyuz-2.1.b launch Glonass-M satellite 17 June 2018 European Russia A launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome heading over the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Russia [8][9][26]
Falcon 9 flight 46 SpaceX Iridium 4[NB 1] 22 December 2017 California A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk [27]
Atlas V 551 AV-056 flight MUOS-4[NB 2] 2 September 2015 Florida A Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn [28][29]
Meteor-M2 weather satellite 8 July 2014 European Russia A launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan [30]
RS-12M Topol-M nuclear missile test launch N/a 10 October 2013 Eurasia Launched from Kapustin Yar, Russia; to crash into Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan [31]
Kosmos 1188 14 June 1980 European Russia A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a giant U-shaped jellyfish appearing over Moscow and Kalinin, Russia [32]
Kosmos 955 20 September 1977 Northern Europe A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a jellyfish vapour trail seen over northern Europe, causing the UFO incident known as the "Petrozavodsk phenomenon" [33]
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See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    Iridium-NEXT launch SpaceX-4
  2. [2]
    U.S. Navy Mobile User Objective System satellite

References

Further reading

External links

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