A glowing blue spiral appears in the night sky, leaves stargazers puzzled in New Zealand

Stargazers in New Zealand were left astounded as they spotted a mysterious sight—a glowing spiral suspended in the night sky. The spiral formed over the South Island at around 7:30 p.m. local time on Sunday and was witnessed by people in Queenstown and Motueka.

 

 

The video and photos of the rare phenomenon went viral on the social media platform. Soon after, people on social media come up with theories about the spiral blue formation in the night sky. Many New Zealanders compare them to some sort of "wormhole".

 

However, ruling out all the theories, Richard Easther, a physics professor at the University of Auckland, explained that the spiral was, in fact, the illuminated plume of a rocket.

 

 

 

“When the propellant is ejected out the back, you have what’s essentially water and carbon dioxide – that briefly forms a cloud in space that’s illuminated by the sun,” Easther said. “The geometry of the satellite’s orbit and also the way that we’re sitting relative to the sun – that combination of things was just right to produce these completely wacky-looking clouds that were visible from the South Island.”

 

“It’s similar to the effect you sometimes see at sunset when the setting sun lights up the underside of high clouds.” According to Easther, it’s plausible the rocket was Space X’s Global Star Mission, which launched earlier on Sunday and passed over New Zealand.

 

Burns had guessed the spiral was likely a rocket, having read about a similar phenomenon in 2009 when a Russian missile launch caused huge blue spirals over Norway. Even knowing the likely source, he said, it was a confronting sight.

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