UFO spotters are claiming that a “city-sized” alien mothership shadowed the SpaceX Starship during its 14th flight, after a mysterious glowing object appeared in the official livestream. The uncrewed mission, which aimed to deploy 26 next-generation satellites to the Starlink network and test technology for future Moon and Mars missions, ended in disaster when the spacecraft exploded in a fireball just as it touched down.
Technical problems and shortened mission
The flight was blighted by technical issues, with SpaceX engineers reporting that one of Starship’s engines shut down prematurely. As a result, the mission’s duration was reduced from 10 hours to three hours.
Eventually, the $90 million (£68 million) spacecraft seemed on course for a textbook soft landing, but exploded in a massive fireball at touchdown. SpaceX shared video of the Starship’s final moments and splashdown from its official feed, but the stream was cut off shortly before the explosion.
The mysterious light in orbit
However, the live mission feed did show a curious anomaly while the spacecraft was in orbit. Around eight minutes into the stream, a small, slightly curved streak of light could briefly be seen in the background – immediately setting UFO fans’ imaginations racing.
UFO sightings in space are not new, and remain the most persuasive evidence of potential extraterrestrial visitors. In 1965, cosmonauts from the Soviet Voskhod 2 mission reportedly saw an unidentified, cylindrical object upon reentry. In the same year, NASA astronauts recorded similar observations on two separate occasions. In each case, the sightings were attributed to debris from the spacecraft themselves. Several astronauts on later missions also made similar reports. In May this year, a tranche of UAP/UFO sighting documents and media released by the Pentagon catalogued many of these reports, including some made from the surface of the Moon.
Social media reaction and explanations
Officials from SpaceX have made no comment on this most recent claim, preferring to focus on what they describe as the “success” of the mission. But on Twitter, most discussions of the Starship launch focused on something in the background of the official video: a small curved arc of pale blue light which seemed to have a brighter spot at one end.
Although it is notoriously hard, even for experts, to judge scale and distance, one Twitter user insisted that the object “looks like a mothership” and added that it was “bigger than a city.” Another added: “I think we all just saw a UFO live-streamed,” while a third person replied: “I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm glad it wasn't just me that saw it.”
Some social media users connected the mystery light with the technical problems reported by SpaceX engineers, with one tweeting: “Hmm, an engine out and then an alien battle cruiser uncloaks. Interesting.”
More sceptical explanations for the mysterious sighting suggested that it could be sunlight reflecting from NASA's International Space Station, or possibly just a trail of gas left behind by the Super Heavy booster as its engines shut down after separation and then started up again for the return to Earth.
There has been no official comment on the claims either from SpaceX or from boss Elon Musk. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman congratulated the company’s technical experts on the successful launch, tweeting: “Gorgeous launch, getting Ship to orbit and managing every step in a safe, responsible, and especially inspirational way. NASA, along with the rest of the interested public, is excited to help where we can and for Starship missions to become routine!”
