Scientists have said it was most likely debris from a rocket
Scientists have said it was most likely debris from a rocket
14:49, 30 Oct 2025Updated 14:49, 30 Oct 2025
Experts have explained what the bright object spotted in the skies of Ireland on Wednesday night could have been. The strange burst of light puzzled many people who took to social media to ask if anyone else had seen them.
Today, experts have explained that it was most likely debris from an Elon Musk rocket. Experts and amateur stargazers deduced the distracting light was the ejection of fuel from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from Florida on Wednesday.
SpaceX, owned by tech billionaire and world’s richest man Mr Musk, operate a series of low-earth orbit satellites for Starlink, an international satellite telecommunications service. The bright light was said to be caused by the process of excess rocket fuel being ejected and freezing, then reflecting light back to earth.
The path and the trajectory of the rocket matches the reported sightings over Ireland, experts said. Space commentator Leo Enright told PA News agency: “If they keep the fuel in the rocket there is a danger that it will explode and shower debris, so it is a standard practice now for space companies to vent fuel.
“It does look spectacular if it happens at a particular time of the day, when the viewer down on earth is in darkness or near darkness and the rocket stage is in light.”
He added: “When the stage is rotating you get a truly extraordinary spiral effect that makes it look like a galaxy.” Mr Enright also said there was an irony to the sighting because astronomers from around the world are meeting in Westport, Co Mayo, this week to discuss the clutter effect of satellites causing congestion in the skies.
He said that some months ago “a big chunk” from a SpaceX rocket fell “harmlessly” in a field in Poland, adding “the reason why Ireland is quite vulnerable (to space debris) is that we are, generally speaking, at the highest point on the map of the launch trajectory of the rockets out of Cape Canaveral (in Florida).
“So it’s never been an issue up to now because rockets were only launching once a week, maybe, now they’re launching virtually once a day out of Cape Canaveral with the SpaceX rockets.”
The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes later, pulling off a pinpoint touchdown in the Atlantic Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship. It was the 15th flight for this particular booster. The liftoff was the 138th orbital launch of the year for SpaceX.
SpaceX is a private American aerospace and space transportation company founded and majority owned by Elon Musk. It is sending satellites into orbit in an effort to build its Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of over 8,000 satellites and it plans to grow much bigger.
AirNav Ireland has been contacted for comment.
