Home / Weather News /

Mysterious object: Eerie blue spiral in Hawaii's sky

13:00
28 January 2023

Mysterious object
Eerie blue spiral in Hawaii's sky

Settings for external content

Privacy Policy
"On January 18th, our Subaru-Asahi star camera captured a vortex that appeared over Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island."

A mysterious swirl of blue light was spotted in the night sky above Hawaii's Mauna Kea. But what was it?

A video dated January 18th 2023 showed a glowing blob of light moving across the sky in Mauna Kea for several minutes before disappearing, captured by the Japanese Subaru Telescope.

Well, it turns out, this alien-looking object was simply frozen rocket fuel from SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Once the satellite was deployed in space, and before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, the remaining rocket fuel was ejected, which resulted in a cloud of frozen fuel crystals.

Frozen rocket fuel has been known to create other magnificent displays before, with these so-called "SpaceX spirals" becoming more common.

Weather & Radar editorial team
More on the topic
Split image showing a snowy Christmas market on the left and a UK weather map on the right with pink zones indicating widespread snowfall over Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Newcastle, plus white snow icons.
Monday, 8 December 2025

Everyone wants to know...

How likely is a White Christmas?
A split image showing a close-up of a full moon on the left, and on the right a UK and Ireland weather map with blue and white patches indicating widespread rain or cloud. Several moon and cloud icons appear over different regions, with temperatures marked mostly between 4°C and 8°C.
Thursday, 4 December 2025

Cold Moon rises tonight

Third and final supermoon of the year
Shooting stars, part of the Geminid meteor shower.
Saturday, 13 December 2025

Spot a shooting star

King of meteor showers at its peak
All weather news
This might also interest you
Split weather map showing the UK and Ireland. The left side illustrates strong winds circulating around a low-pressure system, with gusts of 20–30 mph highlighted in orange and yellow. The right side shows radar imagery with widespread blue rain bands and patches of thunderstorms, especially over northern England and Scotland.
Thursday, 28 August 2025

Breakfast brief

Remaining widely unsettled
Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Breakfast brief

Frontal system brings heavy rain
Sunday, 24 August 2025

Your weather - Your shots

Mammatus clouds widely spotted
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList