A space jellyfish (or ''jellyfish UFO''; also ''rocket jellyfish'') is a
rocket launch
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
-related phenomenon caused by sunlight reflecting off the high altitude
rocket plume gases emitted by a launching rocket during morning or evening twilight. The observer is in darkness, while the exhaust plumes at high altitudes are still in direct sunlight. This luminous apparition is reminiscent of a
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...
.
Sightings of the phenomenon have led to panic, fear of nuclear missile strike, and reports of
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
s.
List of rocket launches causing space jellyfish
See also
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Noctilucent cloud
Noctilucent clouds, or night shining clouds, are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere of Earth. When viewed from space, they are called polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs), detectable as a diffuse scattering layer of water ice cryst ...
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Exhaust plume
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Vapor trail
Contrails (; short for "condensation trails") or vapor trails are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several miles above the Earth's surface. Contrails ar ...
*
Twilight phenomenon
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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* Associated Press, , 10 December 2009
* News4JAX (WJXT4), , 6 May 2022
{{Spaceflight lists and timelines
UFO-related phenomena
Atmospheric optical phenomena
Rocketry
Smoke