Bright White Light Mistaken as Spacecraft From Another Planet Caused Social Media Buzz: What Is This Mysterious Flying Object?

A strange bright white light appeared in the night sky in the US that caused many to speculate its origin. Times Now News reported that people suggested wild theories ranging from a possible comet to an unmanned flying spacecraft from another planet. But has extraterrestrial life been visiting Earth?

Science Times previously reported that China has detected signals from a place far away in outer space that could be a signal from extraterrestrial life. There was a photo of a possible unmanned aerial object photographed 50 years ago. But experts explained that the bright light on September 24 was neither a comet nor a spacecraft from another planet.

Starlink Satellites Blasts to Space Aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket

It is neither a comet nor an unidentified spacecraft because it is a SpaceX rocket carrying 52 Starlink satellites to the low-Earth orbit. Elon Musk's company launched another set of Starlink satellites on Saturday night, September 14, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A resident in Springfield, Virginia, filmed the viral video of bright white light in the night sky as the rocket slowly moved across the sky. It was shared on Twitter and went viral since.

Some residents also from Wilmington captured some photos of the light with a long tail, StarNews Online reported. The SpaceX website explained that the space company launched the Starlink satellites at 7:30 pm EDT, marking the fourth launch and landing for that particular Falcon 9 first-stage booster.

The 230ft rocket was launched from pad 40 and had to launch that day because it has an instantaneous window. That means they had to launch on time or risk a delay of another day. It is the 42nd launch of the year at the Space Coast, also the 62nd dedicated Starlink mission, and the 181st overall flight for SpaceX in which 177 of them have been hosted by a Falcon 9 rocket.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket somersaulted and landed on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" about nine minutes after liftoff. It is the drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean that is assigned as the landing zone of the reusable rocket that will be returned to Port Canaveral in a few days where SpaceX will retrieve the booster for refurbishment and reuse it on different missions.

SpaceX Continues To Build Starlink Megaconstellation

The launch on Saturday is the continuous effort of SpaceX to build their Starlink mega constellation that provides internet connection for people around the world, especially in remote areas. To date, SpaceX has launched almost 3,400 satellites and plans to add thousands more.

Space.com reported that SpaceX will start to launch its Starlink Version 2 satellites starting next year. The V2 satellites are said to be bigger and more capable than the first version of satellites. Last month, Musk announced that the new satellites will be able to beam connectivity directly to smartphones and T-Mobile customers using the "Coverage Above and Beyond."

The Starlink V2 satellites will be launched aboard SpaceX's larger rocket, the next-generation Starship spacecraft that will also be carrying cargo and people to the Moon and Mars. Musk tweeted last week that the spacecraft's test flight will "highly likely" happen in November.

Check out more news and information on Starlink in Science Times.