On the night of Saturday, May 17, skywatchers across various parts of the U.S. experienced a breathtaking spectacle as a surprise geomagnetic storm illuminated the skies with dazzling auroras. This unexpected event not only brought vibrant displays of color but also introduced a peculiar phenomenon that left many observers intrigued: a mysterious white streak cutting through the night sky. The question on everyone’s mind was, “What could this unusual sight be?”
On Sunday evening, the skies over Colorado and other states to the south were further adorned with bands of green, blue, and red auroras. This stunning light show was a direct result of solar flares and a coronal mass ejection (CME)—a massive bubble of coronal plasma and magnetic field ejected from the Sun approximately four days earlier. Initially, the CME was predicted to miss Earth entirely; however, a fragment of it made a glancing impact on our planet’s magnetic field, triggering the geomagnetic storm that set the stage for this extraordinary display.
The real intrigue began at around 11:30 p.m. MT on May 17, when a bright white streak suddenly illuminated the sky. As with any astronomical anomaly, social media became a hub for speculation and discussion. Many observers initially hypothesized that the streak might be a rare form of STEVE, a unique band of purple and green light often seen near auroras, which is also a product of space weather events.
Renowned photographer Mike Lewinski documented the unfolding event with long-exposure shots over the skies of Crestone, Colorado. He described the scene to Spaceweather.com, stating, “The aurora was rippling low on the northern horizon when suddenly a bright streak of light, reminiscent of a rocket re-entry, appeared high in the sky and flowed down to the horizon.” This vivid description captured the awe-inspiring nature of the incident.
However, the strange phenomenon was quickly unraveled; it was not a rare form of STEVE, but the aftermath of a recent rocket launch. According to Space.com, roughly an hour before the mysterious white streak became visible across the southwestern U.S., the Chinese company Landscape launched its Zhuque-2E methane-fueled rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The rocket was tasked with deploying six satellites into orbit, and the white streak likely resulted from the rocket's upper stage as it prepared for reentry.
Prominent astronomer Jonathan McDowell shared insights on the incident via social media platform X, suggesting that the odd white streak was likely caused by the rocket’s upper stage passing over the United States. He further elaborated that this unusual sight may have been the result of a fuel dump occurring at an altitude of 155 miles (250 kilometers) as the rocket traversed the Four Corners region.
This combination of a stunning geomagnetic storm and the unexpected appearance of the rocket's trajectory in the night sky provided a memorable experience for skywatchers, blending the wonders of nature with human innovation.
