Mysterious Spiral Lights Up The Night Sky, Leaving People Puzzled

A strange blue spiral lit up the night sky on Sunday (June 19) that left residents of New Zealand absolutely baffled.

The swirl was fist seen over Nelson, a city on the South Island of New Zealand, and apparently moved south to Stewart Island by 7:30 p.m., according to the Daily Mail.

Aliens? A UFO? What could it be?

Unfortunately, it's nothing of the extraterrestrial sort. But fortunately, we do have an answer. It was one of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets.

One of the SpaceX rockets launched on Sunday morning is to blame for this mysterious spiral in the sky, according to the Daily Mail. "As the rocket released its payload it spun and vented fuel, which caused a vapour trail that reflected sunlight. The illuminated plume of the rocket created the visible blue swirl," the outlet reported.

The spiral was most likely caused by a "fuel dump" or "exhaust plume" from the rocket.

New Zealand star gazer Alasdair Burns told a local news outlet about the strange scene that unfolded in the night sky. "It was absolutely bizarre. It was like a massive spiral. And it very, very slowly, serenely moving north across the night sky and then just sort of dissipating as it went," he told Stuff.