In the evening of Sunday 24 March 2025an unusual phenomenon has attracted the attention of thousands of people in all Europeincluding theItaly: one light spiral It appeared in the night sky, visible for a few minutes before vanishing. An image at times hypnotic and surreal, which has aroused amazement, questions, and – as often happens – even some imaginative theory.
Many wondered if they were an unusual atmospheric event, the passage of a plane, or – as always – of something unidentified. But the explanation is much more rational, even if not less fascinating: it was the phenomenon of the phenomenon Falcon rocket 9 Of Spacexlaunched a few hours earlier by Florida.
It was not UFO or extreme weather phenomena
To clarify the origin of the phenomenon was the Met Officethe United Kingdom National Meteorological Service, which has received numerous reports from citizens. In a post published on X (ex Twitter)the experts explained that the spiral was actually an optical effect caused by frozen drainage plume of Falcon 9the rocket designed by Spacex.
After the launch, the rocket expelled the residual fuel at very high altitude. The extreme temperatures present in the upper part of the atmosphere caused the immediate freezing of fuel, which was arranged in a spiral due to the rotary movement of the rocket itself. This frozen vortex, affected by the sun’s rays still at altitude, reflected the light downwards, making itself visible also in the areas already immersed in the darkness.
A rare phenomenon, but already observed in the past, which reminds us how much space And the terrestrial atmosphere are closely connected, even in their most scenographic effects.
We’ve Received Many Reports of An Illuminate Swirl in The Sky This Evening
This is likely to be caused by the Spacex Falcon 9 Rocket, Launched Earlier Toray. The Rocket’s Frozen Exhaust Plume Actuars To Be Spinning in The Atmosphere and Reflecting The Sunlight, Causing It To … pic.twitter.com/4a9urgzcer
– Met Office (@Metoffice) March 24, 2025
The launch of the Falcon 9 and the Nrol-69 mission
Rocket Falcon 9designed to be reusable, was successfully launched at 18:48 (Italian time) on Monday 24 March from Cape Canaveral Space Force Stationin Floridaprecisely from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).
The mission, called Nrol-69was commissioned by the United States government and had as its objective the positioning of satellites in orbit. Once the scheduled fee has been reached, the rocket has released its useful load and returned to the earth.
During the return phase, the Falcon 9 expelled unused fuel. Precisely this phase gave rise to the spiral visible in the night skyas explained also by BBC. The release of the fuel, which occurred at very high altitude, generated a spectacular effect: a perfect spiral, which illuminated the sky for a few minutes above half of Europe.
A rare, but explanable event, which proves once again how even the quieter spatial missions can leave Visible and suggestive traces in our sky.
