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Mysterious question mark-shaped apparition in the sky confuses Californians

Strange, glowing light over California this week has left thousands puzzled, asking what was behind the question mark-shaped apparition.

Phoebe Loomes
2 min read
December 21, 2018 - 4:23PM
California Residents Spot Bright Streak in Sky

A dramatic bright light streaked across the Californian skies on Wednesday night leaving behind an unusual question mark-shaped trail that has left locals scratching their heads.

Residents across the state of California were puzzled by the strange formation in the sky, taking to social media to share their bewilderment and conjecture.

Dashcam footage shows a bright light appearing in the sky leaving behind it a glowing bright, white tail. What remained in the sky was an apparition in a twisted shape, that looked similar to a question mark.

Unlike usual meteor activity, the burning incandescent tail didn’t disappear, but seemed to remain visibly fixed in the sky.

The question mark was visible from the Lake Tahoe area, the Sacramento Valley and the Bay Area at around 5.45pm California time.

People also reported viewing the strange sight from surrounding states including Nevada.

Californians on social media started to offer their theories, sharing photos of the phenomenon and discussing what they thought the mysterious happening in the sky could be.

The question mark shaped apparition left Californians scratching their heads.
The question mark shaped apparition left Californians scratching their heads.

Some offered conjecture that the apparition was a meteor, others said it was likely a rocket, citing takeoffs scheduled in the area. And some offered the theory that it could have been evidence of extraterrestrial contact.

Many assumed it was rockets, but while two different space craft were scheduled to be launched in California around that time, it turned out both had been cancelled.

A planned rocket launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara had been scrubbed, and a takeoff by Elon Musk’s Space X company had also been pushed back.

As speculation grew, experts identified the falling light as a meteor once they saw more of the initial event.

“Evidence is growing the object seen was a meteor,” said the National Weather Service Bay Area. This was reiterated by the American Meteor Society, who had received 129 reports on their site about what they describe as the “fireball”.

EXPLAINING THE STRANGE PHENOMENON

On Thursday NASA entered into the conversation, saying the apparition in the sky was extremely rare “noctilucent clouds” caused by the falling meteor.

Noctilucent clouds, also know as “night shining” clouds, form 76 to 85 kilometres away from the surface of the earth, in the boundary of the mesosphere and thermosphere, where freezing temperatures mean ice particles can form around dust and detritus in the atmosphere.

While the clouds are usually observed over the polar ice caps, they can also form around meteor dust, which was the explanation given by NASA.

NASA described the formations as appearing like “electric blue wisps that grow on the edge of space.”

Because the clouds are so high in the atmosphere, they are able to be illuminated by the setting sun, even while the rest of the sky is darkening.

While theories that the formation was linked to rockets were ultimately incorrect, similar shapes in the sky have been observed around space launches.

Noctilucent clouds are sometimes observed at the launch of rockets, and were seen in 2011 at another Vandenberg rocket launch.

The meteor is believed to have crashed into the ocean, according to NASA.

Originally published as Mysterious question mark-shaped apparition in the sky confuses Californians

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/science/mysterious-question-markshaped-apparition-in-the-sky-confuses-californians/news-story/d1766a29511481be4a94ddad85be6624