Eagled-eyed Brits across the UK have been left stunned by a mysterious glowing orb in the sky tonight.
The swirling sphere sphere was seen lighting up the night sky across multiple regions on Monday with many taking to social media. The glowing circle was seen spiralling over areas like Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, and beyond, leaving onlookers bewildered.
People took to X and Facebook, posting images and videos that showed the spinning beam illuminating the sky. Many users described their observations and pondered the origin of this phenomenon.
A resident from Ashton-under-Lyne posted on Facebook: “Anyone else just see this in the sky? It just kept spinning,” Another from Horwich, Bolton, added: “Anyone else seen this tonight it was absolutely beautiful flying over Horwich.”
Pictures flooded local online groups, such as one from Radcliffe, where a concerned parent asked: “Has anyone else just seen this over Radcliffe in the sky because me and the kids are freaked out.”
Another said: “What have we just seen? It was moving and then faded away after about 2 mins and there were other small what looked like stars moving around it too.”
A user in Bredbury, Stockport, said: “Did anyone else just see this swirling thing in the sky? It was spinning round and then went off into the distance.”
As people sought to understand the source of this enigmatic spectacle, numerous theories are bound to emerge, fuelling ongoing debates regarding this incident.
The celestial anomaly appeared to coincide with the recent launch of a Space X US spy satellite earlier today, which experts believe was its most likely origin.
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist Simon King said on X: ” How cool is this…our BBC Weather Watchers have captured the Space X spiral in the skies above the UK this evening after a rocket launch in the US… *caused by illuminated frozen fuel expelled from the rocket second stage.”
This isn’t the first time such an occurrence has piqued public interest; back in 2023, a similar spiral was observed across parts of the USA, later attributed to leftover fuel venting from a SpaceX rocket that had been launched from California just hours before.