Mysterious 'Jellyfish UFO' spotted over US desert as scientists reveal its origin
A strange jellyfish-like phenomenon was spotted streaking across the California sky Monday night.
While the unusual ' UFO ' sighting baffled many locals from the Mojave desert to Los Angeles 's South Bay, scientists say there were no extraterrestrials involved in creating the jellyfish - it was an Elon Musk rocket.
SpaceX 's latest Falcon 9 rocket mission lifted off at 11:36pm ET Monday night from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California.
A few minutes into the flight, the rocket's exhaust interacted with the atmosphere, creating a visible cloud of condensed water vapor.
Since the launch took place right after sunset, around 8:36pm PT, the sun illuminated the crystalized exhaust plume, resulting in a spectacular sight for millions on the ground.
Californians posted images of the rocket soaring over the state on X, even as far south as Riverside, over 200 miles southeast of the Vandenberg launch site.
SpaceX's lead avionics systems engineer, Cameron Gable, captured the jellyfish phenomenon as the rocket traveled past Los Angeles County's South Bay.
The mission, dubbed Starlink 15-9, saw SpaceX launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
The jellyfish phenomenon, also known as a 'vapor cone' or 'shock collar,' occurs when the localized air pressure around the rocket drops, causing the air temperature to decrease and water vapor to condense into visible clouds.
Monday's giant jellyfish display started just a few minutes into the flight and was visible to anyone in the Southern California area.
It's not the first time a SpaceX rocket has produced the jellyfish effect. In October 2022, sky watchers caught another Falcon 9 rocket creating the same vapor trail during a similar mission to deploy new satellites.
Monday's Falcon 9 launch was the latest mission in SpaceX's ongoing efforts to expand its Starlink 'constellation,' aiming to enhance global internet coverage.
SpaceX has already conducted 75 launches in 2025, mainly for Starlink missions.
The mission also used a reusable first-stage engine, a hallmark of SpaceX's design philosophy aimed at reducing the cost of spaceflights.
SpaceX captured the moment on their live broadcast when the reusable engine safely landed back on Earth to be used again in future missions.
Monday's mission was the 200th from the company's Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg.
The jellyfish effect is a common occurrence during space rocket launches and can normally be seen from states hundreds of miles from the actual launch site
The remote-controlled reusable rocket engine made a perfect touchdown on SpaceX's droneship in the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after launch, making it the 463rd engine returned to Earth.
While the jellyfish effect may seem like a bizarre UFO to the untrained eye, it's common among spaceflights.
Social media users regularly capture rockets giving off the jellyfish trail from hundreds of miles away.
One X user in Phoenix, Arizona, was able to spot a similar jellyfish during a June 2024 launch. That mission also involved a Falcon 9 launching from Vandenberg, which was over 500 miles away.
When a rocket launches, it expels a large amount of exhaust gases at high speeds. These gases, primarily composed of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other rocket launch byproducts, expand rapidly as they exit the rocket's nozzle.
As the exhaust plume expands, it encounters cooler, denser air in Earth's upper atmosphere. This can cause the water vapor in the exhaust to condense into visible clouds, forming a balloon-like shape around the rocket.
The high speed of the rocket can also create shock waves, further shaping the exhaust into distinctive patterns, creating the jellyfish effect.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets, with their frequent launch schedule and reusable first stages, often trigger this effect due to their design and the typical launch times chosen for optimal visibility.
However, any rocket launch around the world can potentially give off a jellyfish trail, especially when the conditions are right for the exhaust to give off a dramatic display in the atmosphere.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
NAACP threatens to sue Elon Musk's xAI over Memphis air pollution
June 17 (Reuters) - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Tuesday sent a notice to billionaire Elon Musk's xAI, signaling its intention to sue the company over air pollution from the AI startup's data center in Memphis. The letter, sent by Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on NAACP's behalf, alleges xAI has violated federal law by using methane gas turbines at its South Memphis data center without acquiring permits or "best available" pollution controls. Data centers that provide computing power for AI are highly power-intensive and require round-the-clock electricity. Given the slow pace of clean-energy deployments, the surging demand is being met by fossil fuels including natural gas and coal. Methane emissions from human activities such as oil and gas production, electricity generation and agriculture are short-lived in the atmosphere, but are often more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Emissions from xAI's data center further exacerbate the already poor air quality in Memphis, SELC said. "These turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens the health of Memphis families. This notice paves the way for a lawsuit that can hold xAI accountable for its unlawful refusal to get permits for its gas turbines," SELC Senior Attorney Patrick Anderson said. "We take our commitment to the community and environment seriously. The temporary power generation units are operating in compliance with all applicable laws," an xAI spokesman told Reuters. The AI company has installed 35 turbines, nearly all of which were running without the required permits as of April, SELC said. The SELC added that while xAI had removed some smaller turbines, the company recently installed three larger turbines. The environmental legal advocacy organization said in August that xAI had installed 20 gas turbines at the site. Representatives of Elon Musk did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Sky News
5 hours ago
- Sky News
Artificial solar eclipse created by 'driverless' spacecraft in world first
Two "driverless" spacecraft have flown in perfect formation to create a small artificial solar eclipse and "achieve what no other mission has before", the European Space Agency (ESA) has said. The synchronised flight orbiting Earth allowed one of the satellites to cast an 8cm-wide shadow onto its sister craft, flying 150 metres away, by blocking its view from space of the sun's surface. The technique helped the space agency to capture detailed images of the sun's fiery outer atmosphere, called the corona. Scientists increasingly need to study the corona, but find it hard to do so without an eclipse because the sun's surface is one million times brighter. Solar wind, the flow of matter from the sun to outer space, and coronal mass ejections, the eruptions of plasma from the sun, can both interfere with modern technology like satellites – as well as cause displays of the Northern and Southern Lights. It is hoped that studying the corona more closely will help scientists better understand solar weather, as well as answer questions about the sun itself. The images from the Proba-3 mission were taken in March but have only been released by the space agency this week. "We can create our eclipse once every 19.6-hour orbit, while total solar eclipses only occur naturally around once, very rarely twice a year," said Andrei Zhukov from the Royal Observatory of Belgium. "On top of that, natural total eclipses only last a few minutes, while Proba-3 can hold its artificial eclipse for up to six hours." The two satellites are able to align with the sun so that the 1.4-metre disc carried by one of the spacecraft, the Occulter, covers the bright disc of the sun and casts a shadow. The other spacecraft, the Coronagraph, then takes a series of photographs with different exposure times. The satellites flew within 150 metres of each other, with a precision "equal to the thickness of the average fingernail", according to the ESA. Rather than relying on human drivers, who would have an "uncomfortable" delay of a fifth of a second while steering, the spacecraft autonomously lined themselves up with the sun in a manner "akin to driverless cars", the space agency said. When the spacecraft blasted off in December last year, they had enough fuel to keep going for around two years. After five years, it is expected they will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
NAACP files intent to sue Elon Musk's xAI company over supercomputer air pollution
The NAACP filed an intent to sue Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI on Tuesday over concerns about air pollution generated by a supercomputer located near predominantly Black communities. The xAI data center began operating gas turbines last year, emitting air pollution, without first applying for a permit under an exemption that allowed them to do so for 364 days. The permit application now being considered by the Shelby County Health Department calls for the use of 15 turbines, though the Southern Environmental Law Center says there are as many as 35 turbines located at the sprawling facility. Musk's xAI said the turbines will be equipped with technology to reduce emissions — and that it's already boosting the city's economy by investing billions of dollars in the supercomputer facility, paying millions in local taxes and creating hundreds of jobs. The company also is spending $35 million to build a power substation and $80 million to build a water recycling plant to the support Memphis, Light, Gas and Water, the local utility. But the Southern Environmental Law Center, among others, says the supercomputer is stressing the power grid, and that the gas-powered turbines emit smog and carbon dioxide, pollutants that cause lung irritation such as nitrogen oxides, and the carcinogen formaldehyde, experts say. The chamber of commerce in Memphis made a surprise announcement in June 2024 that xAI planned to build a supercomputer in the city. The data center quickly set up shop in an industrial park south Memphis, near factories and a gas-powered plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The SELC has claimed the use of the turbines violates the Clean Air Act and notes that residents who live near the xAI facility already face cancer risks at four times the national average. The group also has sent a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency.
