Our Instagram DMs were flooded with first-hand accounts of a string of lights across the night sky floating and then disappearing around 930-10PM on Saturday night, prompting people to question the notion — are UFOs real? But if you thought you saw a UFO in New Jersey last night, it was, in fact, a satellite owned by Elon Musk’s Space X.
^ Hard to see, but many people reported a string of lights floating across the night sky in a train-like format. Photo via Jennifer Tripucka.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by American aerospace company SpaceX — which has coverage for 60 companies. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023, which is why it’s getting more popular to have seen in the sky.
SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019, and just in the last 24 hours, Starlink has launched 22 Starlink satellites into orbit, hence the multiple sightings across New Jersey. It is reported that he has thousands of launched satellites over the last two years.
According to its website, “Starlink is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more. Leveraging advanced satellites and user hardware coupled with our deep experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit operations, Starlink delivers high-speed, low-latency internet to users all over the world.”
Here’s an episode of The Daily to learn more.
