<p>Is the observed phenomenon really consistent with a SpaceX rocket dumping fuel or decelerating or something? I'm skeptical. There are several things to discuss.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The speed of the blue spiral is much too slow. A rocket or parts of a rocket at 100 km altitude would travel over the sky much faster, I think. The rapidly moving stars in the film are probably satellites. And they are much, much faster. [Of course; it's a GPS satellite at 20 000 km altitude. But the question remains if the speed of the blue spiral is consistent with an artificial satellite at that altitude.]</p>
</li>
<li><p>The launch of the SpaceX rocket occurred 12 hours before. They say. Most or all parts of the rocket have probably fallen to the earth already. [How does a launch of GPS satellite happen? What are the sequence of events? Is the final phase a &quot;post boost&quot; flight in a spiral trajectory, that increases slowly, out to the desired altitude. What happens to the redundant fuel, if there is any? Is it dumped? What happens to the rocket motor etc.?]</p>
</li>
<li><p>Is the trajectory consistent with a SpaceX rocket launched from Florida? Was it launched in a great circle over Hawaii? [still a valid question].</p>
</li>
<li><p>At what time was this filmed? Are parts of a (hypothetical) rocket at that spot in the sky, in earth shadow? [04:43 a.m., but the question of earth shadow is still valid.]</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>&quot;The satellites in the GPS constellation are arranged into six equally-spaced orbital planes surrounding the Earth.&quot;
Quote from <a href="https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/space/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/space/</a></p>
<p>Now, Is the trajectory of the blue spiral consistent with one of those orbital planes? Or with parts of a rocket that decelerates from such an orbit to fall back to earth and burn up in the atmosphere?</p>
<p><div class="youtube-embed"><div>
                <iframe width="640px" height="395px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T9Vyx6GGdds?start=0"></iframe>
            </div></div> (the blue spiral)</p>
<p><div class="youtube-embed"><div>
                <iframe width="640px" height="395px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1Hfiirwgys?start=0"></iframe>
            </div></div> (a video about visual effects from rocket launches; not very similar to the blue spiral at all, in my opinion)</p>
<p>I think the blue spiral is an unknown natural phenomenon. Something unknown (not little green men, though!) traveled through our solar system close to earth. The spiral over New Zealand was (in principle) the same thing.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-24T21:15:34.363Z
By the link to the article on the first video, the SpaceX launch wasn't going to 100km up. It had been launched the previous day to deploy a GPS satellite at  about  20 000 km atltitude.
notovny
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-25T23:21:49.960Z
different but related in Space Exploration SE: [Why is one of these two concurrent fuel-dump spirals blue?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/24414/12102) and also [Why did the "Secretive SpaceX Zuma Launch" make a big "S" or yin-yang shape in the sky?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/24408/12102) and also [Are there "Space Jellyfish" in Florida? Would they be possible?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/35228/12102)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-25T23:36:19.130Z
There is mention of the Jan 18, 2023 phenomenon seen by cameras near the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii here: https://subarutelescope.org/en/news/topics/2023/02/23/3237.html follow the links to Mauna Kea's April 17, 2022 spiral observation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRUA9b4iPG0
uhoh
<solar-system><artificial-satellite><near-earth-object>
Was the recent blue spiral over Hawaii really a SpaceX rocket dumping fuel?
Sven _Andersson
# Was the recent blue spiral over Hawaii really a SpaceX rocket dumping fuel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-02-24)

Is the observed phenomenon really consistent with a SpaceX rocket dumping fuel or decelerating or something? I'm skeptical. There are several things to discuss.

1. The speed of the blue spiral is much too slow. A rocket or parts of a rocket at 100 km altitude would travel over the sky much faster, I think. The rapidly moving stars in the film are probably satellites. And they are much, much faster. [Of course; it's a GPS satellite at 20 000 km altitude. But the question remains if the speed of the blue spiral is consistent with an artificial satellite at that altitude.]
2. The launch of the SpaceX rocket occurred 12 hours before. They say. Most or all parts of the rocket have probably fallen to the earth already. [How does a launch of GPS satellite happen? What are the sequence of events? Is the final phase a "post boost" flight in a spiral trajectory, that increases slowly, out to the desired altitude. What happens to the redundant fuel, if there is any? Is it dumped? What happens to the rocket motor etc.?]
3. Is the trajectory consistent with a SpaceX rocket launched from Florida? Was it launched in a great circle over Hawaii? [still a valid question].
4. At what time was this filmed? Are parts of a (hypothetical) rocket at that spot in the sky, in earth shadow? [04:43 a.m., but the question of earth shadow is still valid.]

"The satellites in the GPS constellation are arranged into six equally-spaced orbital planes surrounding the Earth."
Quote from <https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/space/>

Now, Is the trajectory of the blue spiral consistent with one of those orbital planes? Or with parts of a rocket that decelerates from such an orbit to fall back to earth and burn up in the atmosphere?

(the blue spiral)

(a video about visual effects from rocket launches; not very similar to the blue spiral at all, in my opinion)

I think the blue spiral is an unknown natural phenomenon. Something unknown (not little green men, though!) traveled through our solar system close to earth. The spiral over New Zealand was (in principle) the same thing.

**Tags:** solar-system, artificial-satellite, near-earth-object
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: By the link to the article on the first video, the SpaceX launch wasn't going to 100km up. It had been launched the previous day to deploy a GPS satellite at  about  20 000 km atltitude.  
> **username_2**: different but related in Space Exploration SE: [Why is one of these two concurrent fuel-dump spirals blue?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/24414/12102) and also [Why did the "Secretive SpaceX Zuma Launch" make a big "S" or yin-yang shape in the sky?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/24408/12102) and also [Are there "Space Jellyfish" in Florida? Would they be possible?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/35228/12102)  
> **username_2**: There is mention of the Jan 18, 2023 phenomenon seen by cameras near the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii here: https://subarutelescope.org/en/news/topics/2023/02/23/3237.html follow the links to Mauna Kea's April 17, 2022 spiral observation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRUA9b4iPG0  

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## 0 answers

