A space jellyfish (also jellyfish UFO or rocket jellyfish) is a rocket launch-related phenomenon caused by sunlight reflecting off the high-altitude rocket plume gases emitted by a launching rocket during morning or evening twilight. The observer is in darkness, while the exhaust plumes at high altitudes are still in direct sunlight. This luminous apparition is reminiscent of a jellyfish. [1] [2] [3] Sightings of the phenomenon have led to panic, fear of nuclear missile strike, and reports of unidentified flying objects. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
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Rocket launch | Payload | Date | Location | Summary | Notes | References | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Firefly Alpha flight FLTA005 | Eight CubeSats | 3 July 2024 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | [10] | |||
Falcon 9 flight 361 | ![]() | Starlink Group 9-1 | 18 June 2024 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | |||
Falcon 9 flight 339 | Starlink Group 6-63 | 24 May 2024 | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. | [11] | ||
Falcon 9 flight 338 | Starlink Group 6-62 | 23 May 2024 | Florida | Night-time Starlink launch. Jellyfish caused by moonlight. | [12] | ||
Falcon 9 flight 232 | ![]() | Transporter 8 | 12 June 2023 | Vandenberg Space Force Base | Afternoon launch – plume observed over Eastern Europe, approximately 75 minutes after launch | ||
Test flight of an unidentified Indian missile | None | 15 December 2022 | India, Myanmar, Bangladesh | An early evening test launch. Assumed to be of an Agni-V ICBM | [13] | ||
Falcon 9 flight 152 | ![]() | Starlink Group 4–17 | 6 May 2022 | Florida | An early-morning launch causing UFO reports | [14] | |
Falcon 9 flight 126 | ![]() | Inspiration4 | 15 September 2021 | Florida | The first fully civilian crewed orbital spaceflight, launched from Cape Canaveral after sunset | [15] | |
Soyuz-2.1.a launch | Progress MS-17 | 29 June 2021 | European Russia | A Soyuz-2.1a launched the Progress MS-17 to the International Space Station from Baikonur Site 31 on 29 June 2021. As the rocket reached the upper atmosphere the expanded rocket plume was illuminated by the sun creating a "jellyfish". | [16] [17] | ||
Falcon 9 flight 114 | ![]() | SpaceX Crew-2 | 23 April 2021 | Florida | A crewed Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn. The "jellyfish" lasted over 10 minutes after liftoff. In addition to the "jellyfish" created by the second stage, the returning first stage also made visible plumes. | [18] [19] [20] | |
Falcon 9 flight 62 | ![]() | SAOCOM 1A | 8 October 2018 | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk; causing UFO reports | [21] [22] [23] | |
Falcon 9 flight 57 | ![]() | SpaceX CRS-15 | 29 June 2018 | Florida | An East Coast launch off Florida, in the pre-dawn | [1] | |
Soyuz-2.1.b launch | Glonass-M satellite | 17 June 2018 | European Russia | A launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome heading over the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Russia | [8] [9] [24] | ||
Falcon 9 flight 46 | ![]() | SpaceX Iridium 4 [NB 1] | 22 December 2017 | California | A West Coast launch off California, in the post-dusk | [25] | |
Atlas V 551 AV-056 flight | MUOS-4 [NB 2] | 2 September 2015 | Florida | A Cape Canaveral launch in the pre-dawn | [26] [27] | ||
Meteor-M2 weather satellite | 8 July 2014 | European Russia | A launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | [28] | |||
RS-12M Topol-M nuclear missile test launch | ![]() | — | 10 October 2013 | Eurasia | Launched from Kapustin Yar, Russia; to crash into Sary Shagan, Kazakhstan | [29] | |
Kosmos 1188 | 14 June 1980 | European Russia | A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a giant U-shaped jellyfish appearing over Moscow and Kalinin, Russia | [30] | |||
Kosmos 955 | 20 September 1977 | Northern Europe | A launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome resulted in a jellyfish vapour trail seen over northern Europe, causing the UFO incident known as the "Petrozavodsk phenomenon" | [31] | |||
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