Residents of Central Georgia mistook a SpaceX Starlink satellite train for a UFO. Pic credit: Official SpaceX Photos/Public Domain
Residents of Central Georgia reported seeing a “string of lights” in the sky on Thursday evening (July 13).
Sightings sparked a flurry of UFO calls to news outlets. Some thought an alien spacecraft was hovering in the sky over their communities.
However, experts confirmed that the strange lights came from Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite constellation operated by SpaceX.
Residents report a “string of lights” in the night sky
13WMAZ reported that many residents of Central Georgia saw strange aerial lights around 9: 48 p.m. on Thursday evening (July 13).
[Note: Central Georiga includes the city of Macon and the surrounding metropolitan region.]
Nycole Rudolph and her family from Cochran, about 40 minutes from Macon, told the local station that they saw the lights while relaxing by their pool in the evening.
The string of lights appeared in the sky directly over their house. They looked weird and strange, like a row of shooting stars.
The sighting puzzled the family because they had never seen anything like that.
Many other residents reported seeing the lights. The station received multiple calls from concerned residents who thought it was a UFO.
Strange lights came from SpaceX’s Starlink satellite train
Inquiries with experts quickly resolved the issue.
Meteorologist Ben Jones explained that he also received calls and emailed inquiries. One caller said they saw a string of 20 lights in the sky.
Jones confirmed the lights came from a Starlink satellite train passing in orbit over the region. The satellites belong to Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
The company has a fleet in orbit. They appear to observers on Earth as a string of lights in the night sky.
SpaceX has launched more than 4,000 Starlink satellites into space, and more than 3,500 were still in orbit as of May 31, 2023, according to Space.com.
Starlink offers Wi-Fi services to multiple countries around the world. It has provided internet coverage for the Ukrainian people amid the war with Russia.
Not the first time people mistook Starlink for an alien UFO
It wasn’t the first time people mistook a Starlink satellite train for alien UFOs.
People across the United States have reported sighting alien UFOs passing overhead that turned out to be SpaceX Starlink satellites.
According to Space.com, the satellites are visible as a string of lights only shortly after launch. Once they have reached the target altitude of about 340 miles (550 kilometers), they disperse, and the lights from individual units become less visible.
UFO sightings have recently increased
The latest incident comes after a Lubbock (Texas) resident reported filming a UFO over the city.
Artist Dave Clayton captured footage on June 23 that showed a “metallic sphere about the size of a smart car” flying against the wind.
Other residents of the region reported sighting a similar object in the sky.
Clayton’s video (view here on Instagram) received over 60,000 views.
The attention reflected the increased interest in UFO phenomena following recent whistleblower allegations that the U.S. government retrieved multiple intact alien spacecraft from crash sites.
The 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) released by the Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence (ODNI) confirmed a dramatic increase in reported UFO sightings.
Majority of Americans believe government is hiding UFO info
Whistleblower allegations renewed public concern about UFO phenomena and raised suspicion that the authorities weren’t telling all they knew about it.
A poll showed that most Americans believe the government is not sharing UFO information with citizens.
Congress launched an investigation into the whistleblower allegations to address fears about the threat of UFOs to national security.
The House Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing on UFOs for the last week of July.