‘It was very odd’: Strange objects seen floating through the Sydney sky
Sydney residents have been left baffled after spotting UFO-like shiny objects gliding through the sky just before dawn - but the freaky phenomenon can be put down to one simple explanation.
NSW
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Early-rising Sydney residents were left baffled after spotting a string of UFO-like objects hovering through the eastern sky.
Star-gazers reported seeing a line of refractive objects “marching through the sky” around 5am, with dozens of people dialling into 2GB’s Ben Fordham Live to report the sighting.
The strange phenomenon left people wondering whether the aliens had dropped by to watch Season 2020 of Earth.
One listener said they saw a “slow moving streak of lights, which then started to fade away.”
Another described the objects as “the width of a full moon. I have never seen anything like it before in my life.”
“It looked like a slow-moving line of satellites or something else. It was very odd,” another said.
Show host Ben Fordham said the mysterious objects sounded like something extraterrestrial. “I’m still calling UFOs,” he said.
But one caller wasn’t so sure extraterrestrials would risk a visit in the midst of the pandemic. “If it was UFOs they would have one look and turn around and leave us,” they said.
The lights were actually the Starlink satellite constellation launched by billionaire Elon Musk as part of his bid to rollout low-cost global broadband.
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Space expert Dr Brad Tucker told The Daily Telegraph the space tycoon launched 58 satellites from the Falcon 9 rocket in Florida late Tuesday.
“People up before or around 5am, walking their dog or whatever they were doing, would have seen a line of satellites, like a train marching,” he said. “You could understand why someone would think it was UFOs.”
Dr Tucker says the phenomenon is relatively rare because satellites can only be seen from earth two hours before sunrise and two hours after sunset.
“It doesn’t happen that often, people usually see them a lot when they’re first launched. The lower they start and the closer to earth, the brighter they are.
“Australia usually is usually in a good position for sightings when the launch is in Florida because of the movement of the planet. We are usually among the first to see them.”
The satellites were spotted all over the world, with US and UK residents all reporting seeing them.
Dr Tucker says sightings like these will become more common as satellites are launched into the sky. People will be seeing “less UFOs and more Elon Musk,” he says.
Anyone who missed the phenomenon might be lucky enough to catch it again on Thursday around 4.50am.