What was spotted in the skies above the Philadelphia area overnight Tuesday?
What was spotted in skies above Philadelphia area overnight Tuesday?
A bright orb surrounded by a glowing mist was spotted overhead across the Philadelphia area on Monday night, leading some to search for answers.
PHILADELPHIA - An ascending rocket or something from beyond our world?
That's what people all over the Philadelphia area wondered on Tuesday night after spotting a mysterious, glowing orb in the night sky.
What we know:
A bright orb surrounded by a faint, glowing mist was spotted over the Philadelphia area on Tuesday night.
FOX 29 News viewers from Glenside to the Jersey shore submitted videos and photos of the mysterious orb throughout the night.
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New theory behind mysterious object in night sky over Philadelphia
The mystery continues about a bright, swirling object spotted in the night sky over Philadelphia earlier this week!
It's likely that the sighting originated from the launch of a Vulcan rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The launch, which was part of a national security launch of satellites, could be seen as far north as Delaware.
What they're saying:
NASA scientist Dr. Donald Miller joined Good Day Philadelphia to explain what many people witnessed on Tuesday night.
"This is a classic rocket plume," Miller said. "When rockets go up, they have to do attitude adjustments, so you're seeing that spiral as they're actually adjusting their orbit around our planet."
Dr. Miller explained that the rocket was seen going into "geostationary orbit" as it prepared to launch two military satellites. One of the satellites is being sent on a secret military mission and the other is being used to strengthen the country's GPS systems.
NASA scientist explains what many saw in Philadelphia night sky
A mysterious object was seen soaring through the night sky across the Philadelphia area on Tuesday, leading to wild speculation. NASA Solar System Ambassador Dr. Donald Miller joins Good Day to explain what many witnessed.
Many spotted the object late at night and believed it couldn't be the rocket launched from Florida's east coast around 8 p.m. Dr. Miller explained that the rocket mission reached several stages as it ascended through the atmosphere and traveled a tenth of the way to the moon.
"Once they get to that spot, they have to make adjustments to the attitude, so that's what you're seeing and that's why there was such a delay between the launch and when those things happened," he said.