SpaceX's Starship rocket achieved a historic success by reaching orbit for the first time on Monday. However, a mysterious image that did not go unnoticed during the live-streamed flight prevented the success and started the UFO debate on social media.
'STRANGE OBJECT'
According to the Daily Mail, at approximately 7 minutes and 55 seconds into Starship's space journey, a strange object was seen in the dark area behind the rocket. At the end of the image, which resembled a thin and curved pale blue light line, a brighter white section attracted attention.
Social media users who noticed the image quickly pursued the same question: What was this object?
'WE ALL SAW IT ON LIVE BROADCAST'
It was seen that the image not only attracted the attention of a few people, but also many people watching the live broadcast noticed the same detail. In the comments made on social media, some users claimed that the image belonged to an unidentified object.
“I think we all saw a UFO live,” one user commented. Another user expressed his surprise at the image he saw and said, "I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw this."
Following the image, some users took things further and suggested that this could be a "mother ship". One comment even claimed that the object looked “bigger than a city.”
'IS IT A SATELLITE OR SOMETHING ELSE?'
As UFO theories spread rapidly on social media, some users pointed to much more earthly possibilities for the image.
Prominent theories included the International Space Station (ISS) and another satellite. However, no clear information was shared to confirm that the image is either of these two options.
Another possibility is the gas trail left behind from Starship's Super Heavy booster. Following separation of the rocket stages, Super Heavy shut down its engines and reignited for the return trip. It was suggested that the booster remained behind the Earth's horizon at this time, and the light seen rising back into the field of view later could be related to this process.
One user stated that he noticed the mysterious image at approximately 6 minutes and 35 seconds of the flight and said that he saw a small and blurry blue-white region in the image.
DISCUSSIONS HAVE GROWED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
However, not everyone on social media was satisfied with scientific possibilities. While some users directly associated the image with alien theories, one person tagged SpaceX founder Elon Musk and asked a remarkable question: "Hey Elon, is this the mother ship?"
Another user linked the image to an even more unusual scenario, referring to engineer Kyle Holl's post. Holl made the humorous comment that he was “declassifying an alien battle cruiser” after one of the engines shut down during flight.
These shares further escalated the debate on social media, as there was no official statement about what the image was.
IT REACHED ORBIT FOR THE FIRST TIME
The flight itself, where the mysterious image was revealed, was a historical turning point for SpaceX. Starship was launched from SpaceX's Starbase base in Texas on Monday at 08:46 US Eastern Time. Described as the world's largest rocket, Starship's goal was to reach orbit.
While the rocket successfully achieved this goal, it also released the 26 V3 satellites it carried into orbit. Ground crews were able to communicate with all of the satellites.
According to the planning, Starship was expected to stay in space for approximately 10 hours. However, the mission was terminated ahead of schedule due to an unexpected shutdown of one of the engines during the flight.
HOURS LATER IT TURNED INTO A GIANT FIREBALL
Starship attempted a controlled, soft water landing at 11:58. However, the landing attempt did not turn out as expected and the vehicle turned into a giant fireball and disintegrated.
Thus, while the flight witnessed a historical success with Starship reaching orbit for the first time and successfully deploying 26 satellites, on the other hand, the mysterious image reflected on the camera and the giant explosion at the end of the flight left an image that will be talked about on social media for a long time.
