In the night sky, an unusual sighting caught the attention of residents in B.C.’s north and Interior, as well as parts of Alberta and Vancouver Island on Tuesday night. Between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. PT, a large, white shape was observed slowly moving across the horizon before vanishing from sight.
Residents, including Sarah and Jared Siemens from Vanderhoof, B.C., who had been discussing the existence of UFOs with their son earlier, were surprised by the phenomenon. Videos of the sighting were shared on community Facebook groups spanning from Williams Lake to Prince George to Fort St. John, covering hundreds of kilometers. Reports also came in from the Nass Valley, Kamloops, Oliver, Vancouver Island, and Sherwood Park, Alta.
Speculations about the mysterious object ranged from a weather balloon to a SpaceX rocket. Malhar Kendurkar, president of the Prince George Astronomical Observatory, identified the object as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, launched earlier from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket’s unique appearance was attributed to a “jellyfish effect” caused by the booster’s exhaust expanding in the upper atmosphere.
Michael Unger, director of programming at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, noted the increasing sightings of unidentified phenomena in the night sky due to the growing presence of drones, private satellites, and rockets like those from SpaceX. This trend of increased sightings provides valuable data for scientists studying sky and space activities.
As our skies become busier with various technological advancements, instances like these serve as a reminder of the vastness and mysteries of the universe that we are continually discovering.