Europeans Baffled by Mysterious Blue Spiral in the Night Sky

I know we like to jump to conclusions when weird stuff shows up in the sky, but come on—not everything is aliens! That said, if you were anywhere in Europe on Monday night (March 24), you probably saw—or at least heard about—that eerie, glowing blue spiral swirling in the sky. People from the UK, Hungary, Croatia, and Poland immediately turned to social media like modern-day skywatchers, posting blurry videos, confused selfies, and the inevitable: "What if it's ALIENS??"

Spoiler alert: It's not aliens. It's never aliens.

Turns out, the mysterious spiral was actually the aftermath of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida. Yep—Florida. The rocket was carrying the top-secret NROL-69 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, and when one of the stages detached, it started spinning and dumping leftover fuel. That fuel instantly froze into a swirling pattern at high altitude, reflecting sunlight and creating that absolutely wild-looking spiral.

To be fair, if I had looked up and seen a bright neon cinnamon roll doing pirouettes in the sky, I'd probably have screamed too. But rest easy, Earthlings—this was just science doing its thing, not an intergalactic hello.