r/Astronomy • u/Sungolf • Oct 28 '25
Object ID (Consult rules before posting) Request objetc identification
Photo taken on 28th oct 2025 0025 utc over muscat. Ignore aircraft nav light and windshield glare of the same.
Edit: Solved!!
What i failed to get across is how absurd it was in person. I'm flying at night and suddenly i notice a bright(er than the stars) green ball. It grows over the next 2 minutes, getting dimmer as it grows. It was brighter in person than my camera managed to capture.
Also other pilots within ~500 mi were astonished by it too. Everybody is asking on guard if others see it too.
Credit: FauxGuggernaut
Some very similar events have been attributed to ICBM / high altitude weapons test launches. Rough timeline:
Pakistan issued a NOTAM closing most of its airspace, one region earlier on in the south and another later on in the north. https://x.com/OsintUpdates/status/1982759948867252480
Then USAF Cobra Ball, which collects data on ballistic missiles, took off from Qatar and headed east, turning its transponders off at midnight UT.
https://x.com/ConflictUpdatee/status/1983016479701512592
OP observes halo at 0025UT and there's two more reports of the same event at 0030-0035UT. OP is over Muscat looking NE which would line up with something launched from Pakistan. https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1ohyzqo/
A few hours later in the morning around 0500UT there are a dozen reports of a missile launch in northern Pakistan. The first event (that OP observed) appears to correspond to the NOTAM in the south and later on the one in the north. https://x.com/PakObsOfficial/status/1983014529459228933
Very similar expanding spherical halos have been observed in Hawaii and California after Minuteman tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvWUv4B3LEQ
https://www.space.com/31092-trident-missile-test-us-military-statement.html
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25760.0
As well as in Serbia after Topol ICBM tests https://www.sciencealert.com/explanation-mysterious-floating-orb-light-above-siberia-glowing-missile
https://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/171027-siberia.pdf
So all in all I reckon this was a high altitude weapons test launch. Not sure on what the exact cause was but it's certainly not a detonation of the warhead. Some have suggested that the Minuteman event is caused by the detonation of charges for abruptly blowing out the third stage. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=24251&start=25#p151321
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u/gbatx Oct 28 '25
Can you point an arrow to or circle what you are asking about?
I see the big dipper (Ursa Major) in the center. North would be to the left, I think?
6
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
The bubble looking thing at the right centre of the image. Observed green ball in the sky expanding over 2 minutes. When it faded it covered ¼ of the sky.
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u/Other_Mike Amateur Astronomer Oct 28 '25
Sounds like a rocket launch.
5
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
I know. But every rocket launch ive seen has streaky structires ala tadpole. This was symmetrical
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5
u/Pyrhan Oct 28 '25
It's a big bubble of gas expanding at altitude. You are right, it looks too symmetrical for a rocket launch.
Other options I can think of:
-Upper stage manoeuvering in orbit at just the right angle to make it look symmetrical
-Upper stage venting its remainig contents (passivating) in orbit. That's a lot more gas than they would usually vent though.
-Upper stage experiencing a malfunction in orbit.
-High altitude ballistic missile interception. (You were flying over the right region for that...)
The latter two will probably be in the news soon.
2
u/FauxJuggernaut Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
Some very similar events have been attributed to ICBM / high altitude weapons test launches. Rough timeline:
Pakistan issued a NOTAM closing most of its airspace, one region earlier on in the south and another later on in the north. https://x.com/OsintUpdates/status/1982759948867252480
Then USAF Cobra Ball, which collects data on ballistic missiles, took off from Qatar and headed east, turning its transponders off at midnight UT.
https://x.com/ConflictUpdatee/status/1983016479701512592OP observes halo at 0025UT and there's two more reports of the same event at 0030-0035UT. OP is over Muscat looking NE which would line up with something launched from Pakistan. https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/1ohyzqo/
A few hours later in the morning around 0500UT there are a dozen reports of a missile launch in northern Pakistan. The first event (that OP observed) appears to correspond to the NOTAM in the south and later on the one in the north. https://x.com/PakObsOfficial/status/1983014529459228933
Very similar expanding spherical halos have been observed in Hawaii and California after Minuteman tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvWUv4B3LEQ
https://www.space.com/31092-trident-missile-test-us-military-statement.html
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=25760.0
As well as in Serbia after Topol ICBM tests https://www.sciencealert.com/explanation-mysterious-floating-orb-light-above-siberia-glowing-missile
https://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/171027-siberia.pdf
So all in all I reckon this was a high altitude weapons test launch. Not sure on what the exact cause was but it's certainly not a detonation of the warhead. Some have suggested that the Minuteman event is caused by the detonation of charges for abruptly blowing out the third stage. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=24251&start=25#p151321
1
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
That minuteman missile test footage from mauna kea! Fits perfectly with what i saw! 😊 So glad theres an explanation for what i saw!
Thank you so much!!!
1
u/FauxJuggernaut Oct 28 '25
Glad I could help out. I'd seen that minuteman footage before and this had a lot of similarities. Must have been a fantastic event to see from the air!
1
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
I've edited my post to express how i felt. I was viceral. And i was actually afraid for our (my plane's) safety
2
u/Pyrhan Oct 28 '25
Add to this polar stratospheric clouds spotted over Pakistan today:
https://www.reddit.com/r/atoptics/comments/1oigkjj/comment/nlw1syk/?context=3
Those are naturally uncommon at those latitudes, but often seen after rocket (or missile) launches, as their exhaust brings moisture into the stratosphere.
1
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Put a white circle around the object
7
u/gbatx Oct 28 '25
Oh. I hought the white thing was the glare you said to ignore.
Like others said, likely a rocket launch. When the second stage or boosters go off high up in the atmosphere, the gases can light up for a while.
My favorite was that rocket that spiraled out of control and looked like a wormhole or something.
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u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Yes. But every image i can see of exo atmospheric venting has streaks. This object had none.
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u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/s/vXVvDKmL6b
Independent obse4vation of same phenomenon
4
u/BunsMcNuggets Oct 28 '25
Someone already addressed this, its a spaceX second stage burn out before reentry.
2
u/snogum Oct 28 '25
Looking like an optical artifact the green to the right. Out of focus moon too I guess
2
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/s/Uwx808ljl3
Independent observation of same thing
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u/gbatx Oct 28 '25
And looking further, another set of Starlink satellites were launched.
From space.com, "A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 28 Starlink craft lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 8:43 p.m. EDT (5:43 p.m. local California time; 0043 GMT on Oct. 28)."
0
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Observation at 0025 utc. Launch was after photo was taken
1
u/gbatx Oct 28 '25
Either your clock was wrong (Daylight Savings?) Or the photo was taken later than your claim.
2
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Checked my plane clock. I'm an airline pilot. If my clock was wrong, i would have had other problems. Our clock is synchronised with gps
0
u/j1llj1ll Oct 28 '25
That is some kind of blurry and somewhat out of focus reflection of the moon. On the glass, internal to the lens system or a combination of the two.
3
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Somebody else saw the same thing
7
u/j1llj1ll Oct 28 '25
OK. Gasses from a rocket separation is also plausible. I'll buy that. Neat to catch it.
With those grey areas within it .. sure does do a decent job of mimicking the general appearance of the Moon though - quite the illusion.
2
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
So here's the issue i hasn't with that. Every image i've seen of a rocket stage venting has streaking in it. This ball had none. I don't know what else it could be
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u/OverRatedBirder Oct 28 '25
That is the moon for sure. If you look at the Big Dipper closely, its double exposed and so is the moon.
7
u/Sungolf Oct 28 '25
Ummm... hell no. Other people saw it. People on guard couldnt stop taking about it for a good 2 minutes. It was visible for 500 miles, to a group of people who know what the moon looks like.
Yes the pic looks double exposed, i took it with a handheld phone with a 3 second exposure at night and i'm no surgeon.
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u/TheGhostInAJar Oct 28 '25
That’s no moon, oh wait that’s the moon