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Glowing spiral captured over the East Midlands

Asha Patel
BBC News, East Midlands
BBC Weather Watchers/Shazza A spiral light in the sky over Asfordby in Leicester. The tops of three trees can also be seen in the image BBC Weather Watchers/Shazza
The unusual display was seen across the UK, including in Asfordby, Leicestershire

Images of a glowing spiral light spotted in the skies on Monday night have been captured across the East Midlands.

The light, believed to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launch, appeared for a few minutes before fading and was photographed across the UK.

It is believed the light was leftover fuel released by the Falcon 9 rocket, which freezes due to the altitude.

The light is reflected off the fuel, making it visible on Earth, and the spiral pattern is caused by the rocket's movement.

BBC Weather Watchers/Mowgli A spiral light seen in skies above Nottinghamshire BBC Weather Watchers/Mowgli
The spiral was also spotted in Bingham, Nottinghamshire
BBC Weather Watchers/wandering ecologist A spiral light spotted in skies above Nottinghamshire BBC Weather Watchers/wandering ecologist
Rolleston in Nottinghamshire was another viewing spot
BBC Weather Watchers/AdamO Spiral light in the sky seen over Southwell in Nottinghamshire.BBC Weather Watchers/AdamO
Images of the spiral - shown here above Southwell, Nottinghamshire - were instantly shared

The glowing spiral prompted many puzzled social media posts, with people questioning what the mysterious phenomenon was.

Astronomer Allan Trow told the BBC a rocket was its likely source.

On Monday, the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida at about 13:50 local time, (17:50 GMT).

The launch was a US government National Reconnaissance Office mission, SpaceX posted on X.

BBC Weather Watchers/Bill the Bold A spiral light in the sky seen over Heage in Derbyshire. The image also shows the top of a tree or bush from the bottom right of the frameBBC Weather Watchers/Bill the Bold
Derbyshire did not miss out on the display - seen here over Heage
BBC Weather Watchers/JanG A spiral light in the sky seen over Ashover in DerbyshireBBC Weather Watchers/JanG
It was also visible in Ashover, Derbyshire
BBC Weather Watchers/Jackster147 A spiral light in the sky seen over Riber in Derbyshire showing a ray of light from a nearby house or lamppostBBC Weather Watchers/Jackster147
This photo was taken in Riber, Derbyshire
Spiral light seen over Nottinghamshire
The unusual sight prompted an array of theories about the cause
BBC Weather Watchers/Hannah A spiral light seen over Melton Mowbray in LeicestershireBBC Weather Watchers/Hannah
BBC Weather Watcher Hannah took this photo in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

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