The Jellyfish in the Twilight Sky
Just after sunset, a glowing, translucent shape like a giant jellyfish blooms across the sky over California. Calls flood in to police and TV stations.
What was reported
On several evenings, people across California, Arizona and Nevada have seen a huge glowing cloud spread across the dusk sky: a bright point at its head, trailing luminous streamers, like a jellyfish or a comet. After one in December 2017, police and news stations were flooded with calls about UFOs.
The shapes appear at twilight and fade within minutes.
Explanations offered
They're rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base. At twilight, the ground is dark but the rocket's exhaust high above is still lit by the Sun, and it spreads out in the thin upper air into glowing plumes. Photographers now gather to watch them.
- When
- Many evenings since the 2010s
- Where
- Vandenberg, California, USA
- Witnesses
- People across the American South-West
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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