Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has published an image of an unusual ghostly structure in the sky above the Sonoran Desert. However, this is not a UFO at all. In fact, the frame shows a flying Falcon 9 rocket.
Falcon 9 was launched from the spaceport located at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch took place shortly after sunset. As a result, a characteristic ghostly structure called a “jellyfish” appeared in the sky.
A “jellyfish” is created when light bounces off the cloud of gas around the rocket, which is made by its engines and/or burning off leftover fuel. Jellyfish can usually be seen in the sky either before dawn or shortly after sunset. Due to their unusual appearance, they are often mistaken for UFOs or even nuclear tests. Sometimes, the “jellyfish” takes the form of a rotating spiral. In particular, a similar phenomenon was observed by residents of Europe at the end of March 2025.
As for Falcon 9, the rocket successfully completed its mission, launching another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. And its first stage made a successful landing on a barge in the Pacific Ocean.
