Spiral in the Sky

Yesterday evening there was an info explosion on social media about a strange apparition being reported in the sky. Photographs and descriptions flooded the cyberways, including the one above. The phenomenon looks slightly different depending on the location and probably the type of camera used, but all of them depict a glowing two-barred spiral object. It was visible from most of the British Isles and a few other places in Western Europe. It appeared just before 8 PM and lasted a few minutes; then it faded. People near where I live reported it, but I unfortunately never saw it myself. I was inside. My first thought was that it resembled the Norway Spiral a similar phenomenon that appeared above Norway 2009, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyWrxY15s6Y. There are other examples from around the world; Africa, China etc. It took a few hours, but the mainstream news eventually began reporting on it. The prevailing explanation for the phenomenon is that it was caused when a SpaceX rocket stage began venting excess fuel which froze solid in the coldness of the upper atmosphere. It glowed because of sun and moonlight hitting the ice crystals. Source: https://www.gbnews.com/science/glowing-spiral-white-spinning-orb-uk-sky-met-office. The spiral pattern is caused by the movement of the reusable rocket as it returns to its launch pad on earth. This explanation was provided by the Met Office alone; at the time of writing SpaceX have yet to comment. There was a launch a few hours earlier. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off on a classified government contracted mission; my guess is to deploy a reconnaissance satellite. Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/03/24/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-national-security-satellite-for-nro-on-falcon-9-rocket-from-cape-canaveral/.

This theory has been elevated to the status of fact instantaneously. Actually all the skeptics I know on social media were speculating in the same fashion even though they had no information at all. This is a typical example of the "clown's day off" fallacy, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/10/calvine-clowns-day-off.html. I'm quite surprised that there is no reference at all to the possibility of this spectacle before the spiral actually appeared. This is uncharacteristic for SpaceX. Generally Elon never misses an opportunity to draw public attention to his products. This was the wonder of the Starlink satellites. Being able to see something artificial in space from the earth's surface is a rare treat. Oddly enough there was a similar cover story for the Norway Spiral. It was apparently a missile test that went wrong. Russia launched a Buleva ballistic missile from a submarine in the Barents Sea, without a warhead of course, and its engine failed causing the missile to go into a tailspin. The spiral was caused by its exhaust flying out from the rotating rocket engine in an effect similar to a Catherine wheel firework. Some time later more information emerged that showed that a missile failure could not possibly have produced that effect. If these spirals are not rockets then what are they? I don't know. Some people have claimed that they are "portals", the entrances or exits of wormholes in spacetime. These either form naturally or can be generated synthetically by advanced technology in the hands of an extraterrestrial, or extra-dimensional, civilization. As outlandish as that sounds, some dedicated researchers have gathered evidence for it, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2022/05/programme-464-podcast-dave-altman-and.html. Whether this spiral can be included in this area of research is more than I know or anybody knows. Certainly I've seen nobody yet claiming that flying saucers dropped out of the spiral. I'm just kicking myself for being cosied up indoors at the time and not catching it myself. Maybe next time I'll be luckier.
See here for more information: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2015/10/sky-city-in-china.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2015/04/city-in-sky.html.