Spectral streak seen on SpaceX Starship livestream fuels UFO speculation
During SpaceX's Starship test flight, viewers reported a narrow blue-white streak trailing the rocket, prompting alien theories.
SpaceX's historic Starship test reached orbit on Monday, but the livestream captured an odd narrow, slightly curved pale-blue streak with a brighter tip about seven minutes and 55 seconds after liftoff. Social-media users described it as a "mothership" larger than a city, while others speculated it might be the International Space Station. Analyst Dean Scott argued the light was likely gas expelled by the Super Heavy booster during its post-separation engine burn, a view echoed by a viewer who noted an earlier fuzzy patch in the footage.
The mission later suffered an unexpected engine shutdown, and the vehicle exploded after a splashdown, though it did reach orbit. Neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk have commented on the mysterious object, and the incident has sparked a wave of extraterrestrial speculation online.
Why it matters
The sighting highlights how live space launches can generate public speculation and underscores challenges in interpreting visual data from high-speed missions.
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