Social media was flooded with videos and photos of a mysterious “bright spiral” that could be seen in the sky of Europe last Monday (24).
Despite the wild conspiracy theories, the Met Office, the UK meteorological agency, explained that the bright spiral seemed to have been caused by the launch of a rocket.
The rocket in question was a Falcon 9 from SpaceX, the company of Elon Musk. It was launched on Monday afternoon (24) in Florida for a U.S. government mission.
🔴 Ce time-lapse de la fusée Falcon 9 V1.2 ce soir manœuvrant au-dessus de l’Europe…😲 (©Neverin) pic.twitter.com/oBai4MrUll
— Météo Franc-Comtoise (@MeteoFrComtoise) March 24, 2025
According to meteorological experts, the phenomenon was likely caused by a column of frozen fuel that came from the rocket’s exhaust. It would then have reflected the sunlight, creating the curious effect in the sky.
[Spirale bleue brillante 🌀 ce lundi soir sur le Centre – Val de Loire : explications]
Vous avez été très nombreux à nous contacter au sujet de cette fameuse spirale bleue 🌀 observée brièvement, ce lundi 24 mars 2025, vers 21h, dans notre ciel de notre @RCValdeLoire, comme ici… pic.twitter.com/XIxCDleoC2
— Association Météo Centre – Val de Loire (@AssoMeteoCVDL) March 24, 2025
Photo and video: X @AssoMeteoCVDL / X @MeteoFrComtoise. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
