By Tim Binnall
Alaskan residents admiring the Northern Lights were taken by surprise when a rather sizeable spiral suddenly passed though the night sky. The wondrous event, which reportedly occurred a few hours after midnight this past Saturday, was spotted by both skywatchers observing the aurora borealis as well as bewildered witnesses who unexpectedly caught a glimpse of the curious 'light show.' Shortly thereafter, social media was flooded with photos and videos of the fantastic event with some wondering if the weird spiral could have been alien in nature. However, the mystery surrounding the strange shape was soon solved when it was determined to have had a terrestrial origin.
The peculiar scene, space physicist Don Hampton told the Associated Press, was the result of a SpaceX rocket that had been launched hours earlier from California. While passing over Alaska, he explained, it released excess fuel which subsequently turned into water vapor that in turn reflected sunlight. "When you're in the darkness on the ground," Hampton said, "you can see it as a sort of big cloud, and sometimes it’s swirly." The incident over Alaska is not the first time that a SpaceX launched has spawned a proverbial viral spiral as a similar event occurred over New Zealand in June of last year.