Mysterious green spiral filmed travelling across Alaska skies

Aurora watchers in Alaska were shocked to see a huge spiral appear in the sky early morning on Saturday 15 April.

People on social media speculated on what caused the bluish-white shape, but according to scientists from The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, this could be linked to a SpaceX rocket launch that took place earlier on that day.

"We learned that SpaceX had launched one of their Falcon 9 rockets into a polar orbit about two hours earlier, and watching a replay of their live feed showed the trajectory going right over Alaska,” geophysicist Don Hampton said.

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