Did You See the Strange Line of Lights Marching Across the Sky?
In the last year and a half, a little under a quarter of a million readers came to this site seeking answers to the question, ‘What is that strange line of lights in the night sky?’
The answer in almost every case is Elon Musk’s Space X Starlink satellites. But for many people, the first glimpse they catch of the mysterious line of lights drives them to profanity and a belief they are seeing something alien. Check out this YouTube from two first time North Coast viewers of the phenomenon as they captured it on video last night.
However, the lights are satellites which make up a small part of Elon Musk’s dream to provide fast and relatively cheap internet access to underserved and often rural areas. SpaceX has sent out almost 1500 low-flying satellites and over 40,000 are planned for launch in the next few decades.
“The way you can tell they are Starlink satellites is they are like a string of pearls, these lights travelling in the same basic orbit, one right after the other,” said Dr. Richard Fienberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society in a news story from ABC Los Angeles earlier this month.
Sunlight hitting the reflective sides of these satellites makes them most visible at dawn and dusk.
Astronomers who are concerned about the satellites affecting their ability to view the night sky have been kicking up a fuss without much success in bringing the project to a halt though. The International Astronomical Union urged,
The organization, in general, embraces the principle of a dark and radio-quiet sky as not only essential to advancing our understanding of the Universe of which we are a part, but also as a resource for all humanity and for the protection of nocturnal wildlife
Want to see what the fuss is about for yourself? Try clicking here for suggested viewing times in your area. Try clicking here to see where in the world they are located now.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
I would like to see the video. But it says it is private. Can you fix that Kym? I seen the lights for the first time last Sunday May 16th, 21. It was startling to say the least. I laughed at myself thinking it was just a reflection in my windshield from my dash. But when I got to a vista point on hwy 299 I pulled over and got a good look. If I hadn’t already heard about them it would of had me trippin hard.
Private videos can only be made un-private by the video owner whom kym is not.
I frickin just saw the strangest thing ever frickin crazy it’s ALIEN Crap it happened when I was walking my dog and I look up and all I can see is these lights in a straight line diagonally moving in the same direction and pass. Then it or they disappeared in a couple of seconds in Emmett Idaho meadow brook apartments but Frick I’m gonna have NIGHTMARES tonight and this happened at 10:55 if you have any advice please help and this is crazy.
Fixed now.
Thank you Kym.
My partner and some of our neighbors were hanging out and had the unbelievable luck of witnessing the same thing. It was so cool. We were fortunate enough to have a little bit of info because my boyfriend had read some thing about it online. Still… I wasn’t entirely sure until I googled it just now and saw your video.
All of us saw it at the river bar 3 white dots perfectly spaced and moving equal and very fast together
I already went to bed feeling like I’m living in a fucking twilight zone after you tube removed a video within one hour of uploading that they deemed violated their “medical misinformation policy.”
Like the entire whitewashed media, apparently they now step in under the guise of refusing to allow claims about COVID-19 vaccinations and their effects, that “contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization (WHO).”
That’s fucking nuts enough….
And now more Elon fuck Musk.
I hate that guy.
And I’m beginning to hate the world we are living in.
What pisses me off about Starlink most, is that no one asked the rest of the planet of one guy gets to use the entire fucking sky to make 30-50 billion dollars a year! Zero public comment. Zero environmental review.
Besides obscenely SULLYING the night sky for everyone AND our future generations (in addition to the grotesque launch displays and morning / night visibility, the eventual mass of them will impede astronomers from getting a visual on new discoveries like planets, galaxies or black holes, but more importantly approaching meteors and dangers,) this ridiculous and ill-conceived project also carries the tangible risk of causing a chain-reaction collision in that low orbital zone; KESSLER EFFECT. Which is a nightmare that would potentially create a fucking wall of space trash and render ALL satellites USELESS. BASICALLY TRAPPING US HERE WITHOUT THE LUXURY OF EVEN SIMPLE FLIGHT OR WEATHER SATELITES.
Anyone who gives that greedy turd any $ has a serious problem with being short-sighted and dull minded. The reviews are in. It’s not that great. Don’t buy into the lies.
No one gave the heavens to Elon musk! I absolutely resent him thinking they are his to exploit.
My day has shades of despair washed o’er it.
You all give him money. His projects are funded with “green” tax subsidies. Lol. Sucks to be you!
@Musk
Wrong answer, but I guess cloze enuff for a republican.
Musk’s money comes primary from PayPal, the rest from tax subsides not for “green work” but rather because this country has been a fascist oligarchy for decades. He’s successfully manipulated the crypto currency market and he plays Tesla stock like a banjo. What do you think really happened when Elon lit a doobie on live TV and crashed Tesla stock?
He bought it back at a discount.
@Anon,
Reagan built that monster when he started his trickle down economic myth and foisted it on the American people. He had to scrap the Fairness Doctrine to pull it off, and sadly the Democrats didn’t have the votes to defeat his veto so here we sit. To be fair, old Slick Willie’s Media Act of ’93 gave us the corporate controlled media we have today by allowing for corporate consolidation of media outlets. Both Bushs signed tax cuts for sending our manufacturing capabilities overseas while stealing worker’s retirement benefits.
This country is run by the 632 billionaires we’ve created since Regan, or in W’s words “my constituents”.
Everything else is just there to distract you from that one fact.
BTW, the “stable genius’s” trade war with China is why almost a million brand new vehicles are in storage waiting for computer chips.
Isn’t outsourcing grand? And just look at all the money Ford, GM and Chrysler have “saved” by not having a back stock of essential parts.
Had enough yet?
Wow!! I haven’t been able to even consider watching or listening to the news for about a year-i do however keep up with neighbors family and friends –and them-i listen to.. as well as reading the reviews like yours concerning the “lights ” in the sky. Latest topic has been this Musk dude and what you are saying puts so much into perspective! Geeeeez! We all have one for sure thing in common-we’re sick of these mfs running our lives and scaring the shit out of us. Maybe that’s a big part of what will eventually be their UN doing–their inability to explain and justify this shit. None of it is for our benefit. They suck.
wow…..
ya, that poster puts a whole new spin on Anon
When Elon hosted Saturday Night Live he admitted he has Asperger’s syndrome and that is why his brain thinks differently.
Some of the most intelligent people on earth are within the spectrum for Asperger’s.
Members of my family among are among them. They’re also teachers, artists and software engineers.
Yes, their brains work differently than most. Perhaps you’d like to tell us why that’s a bad thing.
Didn’t say bad, but thanks.
“they are only visible at very small wondows of time when they are first launched,” .. no, I several times over the span of over a year have seen the 3 that are planted above south fork mountain in the ruth lake area. 3 lights perfectly spaced in a vertical row with a brighter, blinking light to the left of them.. I see them when I’m coming down the hill above the mad river burger bar on hwy36.. very noticeable.
☺?????????
We saw the sam thing a long line of space out lights in the sky last night about 11.55pm in Bromyard Herefordshire 22/5/2021
@Anon @cowboy Agreed, whole heartedly. Elon Musk is a government plant here to further the USA imperialistic fascism. “We will coup who ever we want…” and take big brother shits in your sky
Whoa! No one has to give anyone the heavens: it BELONGS to everyone on this planet! If you don’t like the fact that Elon Musk is, at the moment, is seizing anopportunity and ” going for it balls to the walls style” because he has the means to do so, well boo-boo & too fucking bad! Get off your negative pity-potty and go cry to mommy. Sure space trash is inevitable, to say the least. The trash that you create and discard every single day is also inevitable , duh and affects the planet whether you think so or not. Are you a part of the solution? I’d like to point out that you’re hatefull, negative, name-calling, envious ways are energies that bring the planet down. BE a part of the solution NOT the problem. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself”!
Respectfully,
Shane
Im just gonna leave this right here….
https://patents.google.com/patent/US9346563B1/en
That patent has been expired for five years. If there was anything to it, someone would’ve snatched it up by now. And if it really worked, do you really think ANY gov’t would wait for the patent to expire? Just goes to show, anyone can get a patent for anything.
Private Video
Fixed now.
video commentary, roflmao
Saw these satellites last night about 2215, and scared the hell out of us. Luckily, we belong to an astronomy society in our area, and one of the members knew exactly what it was. I agree with one poster above, asking why Musk gets to use the whole sky for his own purpose. On top of that, it’s just a lot more junk to eventually fall out of the sky and probably with an uncontrolled descent.
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Right now he’s running at 5% failure rate and they mope along for up to a year after they croak,before they finally deorbit presenting a collision risk the entire time.
They have a lifespan of 5 years, or less.
You seem ok with one random $elfish dude just burning 42000 SATELITES up in our atmosphere over the next decade.
I’m not.
The surprising thing about the video, and even the comments above, is that so many people are just noticing these satellites for the first time, and then being baffled by them. The news is a couple years old and it boggles my mind that people have failed to notice them sooner. I guess most people don’t turn the heads up to the sky at night very often. I am on the waiting list for Starlink, hope to receive it soon! 120mbs up and down! A couple friends of mine have theirs already and it is a huge game changer for rural areas.
Some of us don’t live in an area where you can see low on the horizon, without leaving home. I have only heard mostly about them through neighborhood watch pages. Reading about something and actually seeing with your own eyes are totally different. Even knowing they were out there, it’s still strange to see.
There was a time when people would have been sacrificing virgins at the sight.?
Now we’ve just moved onto another level of mind melting ignorance.
People are baffled and don’t know anything about it , because no one asked the residents of this planet if we are cool with giving the whole fucking sky to one guy. .
The FCC pushed back on his aspirations until the MILITARY entered into contracts with Musk and his nefarious Starlink. Then they started rubber stamping everything. Search starlink military.
You fucking think they care about our internet quality? Lol no one cares about your internet.
Starlink is planning on 4,000. of these satellites. The night sky will certainly look different. Rural users are the target. Costs $90 a month and $500 for the equipment to hook up.
Here’s a good article on users in Maine, as well as what’s planned.
https://www.govtech.com/network/users-elon-musks-satellite-internet-is-not-full-solution.html
42 THOUSAND.
Not 4000
https://youtu.be/LGBuk2BTvJE
E.T. PHONE HOME…
We saw for the first time last night perfectly spaced out lights moving very fast together in a state line it was 11.50 pm on the 22/5/2021 in Bromyard Herefordshire
@Just Saying You dropped a zero there. It’s 40,000, not 4,000. 10 times more. But the rest lines up with what I’ve heard. Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, has it. About $90 plus set up and the speeds are incredible. I don’t game or stream, so, not cost efficient. Might be different if I was rural.
On another note, shouldn’t they be geosynchronous? Though, I guess that only really works at the equator. If they orbit the way we’ve seen, and at those speeds, you’d have signal for a few minutes tops. They would have to litter the sky like fireflies (no disrespect to Serenity) just to keep a constant internet signal.
Please, some astronomer, school me.
And yes, Kessler Effect. Not the same, but, anyone remember SkyLab narrowly missing the rural Australian town when it crashed to Earth? Or, last week’s uncontrolled re-entry of a rocket thruster that had even NASA and US air defense on alert?
It seems to me a geosynchronous orbit would be a requirement for a number of excellent reasons. $90 a month plus set up will be beyond the means of many of the users Musk claims to target, so we’ll se where this goes. His dream of universal internet includes many people to whom that’s a year’s income.
UFO shit, the videographer exclaimed.
Not simple satellites reflecting the sun’s light in orbit?
Life sure seems simple in SoHum! Gotta love it!
The night sky will soon be full of satellites…
Like most things In this world.
We have very little say, but how we FEEL about how those people who are building a prison planet right in front of our eyes.
ok….ready for it….YOU CRAYCRAY
and sky net,oops!! i mean starlink decided our fate in a micro second.
the starlink dish looks like a flying saucer (____Y____) <–artists rendition
I wonder . . . If a private individual with the means, say, Bezos, were knock some of those starlinks out of the sky, with a controlled re-entry into an ocean of course, could they be charged? Who would, or even could, charge them? I mean, it all seems to be an entirely new jurisdiction.
I saw at 12 pm right 40 minutes ago 3 strange light pulsing across the sky!!! May 24 2021 was so incredible!!!!
It’s been estimated that eventually the number of satellites in the sky will prevent one from being able to observe the stars unobstructed, the night sky will essentially be “crawling”. But hey, at least we can download porno a little bit faster!
Lansing, Michigan (USA)
We saw numerous (25ish) bright lights moving from northwest to northeast.
5/23/21 approximately 22: 30.
It almost looked like Morris-code.
(** * ** *** ** * * **)
It was very interesting.
I saw something very similar while at Lake Martin in Alexander City, AL on Saturday night 5/22/21 at 10:15pm central. From my campsite on the lake, the moving lights were in the NW sky and seemed to be evenly spaced out moving from SW to NE (left to right from where I was looking). Some of the lights were dimming and getting brighter as they moved across the sky. We watched this display for about 5 minutes before the line of lights moved out of our view and weren’t seen again. None of the images I’ve found online compare exactly to what we saw, but this video is, by far, the closest I’ve found.
https://spacenews.com/viasat-asks-fcc-to-halt-starlink-launches-while-it-seeks-court-ruling/
“…We believe the FCC failed to conduct a legally required environmental review under NEPA and did not honor the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to a science-based approach to protecting the atmosphere, the Earth’s climate, space and the well-being of U.S. citizens before authorizing the launch of thousands of new Starlink satellites into low-earth orbit,…”
Not the first lawsuit. Will it carry enough weight to shut Musk down?
Is there actually hope left for our future?
Doubts abound.
Me and my friends just saw the same string of light around 30 of them then they faded out above us. I stil don’t believe the satilight theory.in arkansas
Don’t be so quick to write off these sightings!
My family and I earlier in May saw the line of lights we ooed and awhhed in Portland.
WARNING! May 22 2021 my 13 year old daughter my wife and myself we’re camping in prineville Oregon reservoir with beautiful clear skies!
My daughter noted a satalight we observed it as well then it stopped! Totally still then went backwards and side to side WTF! No Drugs SOBER! I said to my kid “I don’t think satalight can do that! We stopped to observe in the convertible! Then we start noticing other suspicious lights approaching the one that stopped! When the first light neared it they suddenly went round and round one another before the first light took off at amazing speeds followed by these dark circles with a dim green light in the middle of them. All the sudden multiple what were thought to be stars and satalites were clearly not as what appeared to be a war in the sky we watched this in total fascination as we have never seen anything like this before! We saw incredible things again 100percent Sober!
I’m hoping to find someone that witnessed this as well. Again may 22 2021 around 11:30pm is when we noticed the beginnings of what was epic! And kinda scary by morning!
We witnessed 3 clearly different types of light crafts.
1- bright like a star
2- smaller and brightness of a satalite only it had a transparent but noticeable ring around it.
3- round dark circles with very dim green light in the middle of them.
2 fireballs fell out of the sky 1 of Wich was followed by a craft that hovered and moved irrationally in the distance until sunrise then it lowered behind the hills! I couldn’t believe there was no sound from the fireballs I feared a percussion wave and was nervous but nothing silence!
These things were everywhere racing across the sky to apparently battle each other the black ones would gang up on the other 2 surrounding them then an award purple I guess some kinda maybe plasma cloud surrounded the cluster of them when this would happen the brighter lights didn’t move like they were before it was like tug of war they moved together back and forth some would get away and others battled until day light!
We watched this for 6 hours then the craziest part as if I don’t sound looney enough! There were low lights hovering for hours and not moving with the rest the sky as dawn approached! The really bright one to the south of us all the sudden as the sun was rising started moving towards us then would stop and back up.
The craft started moving side to side as if it was a toy being shaken side to side extremely quickly! Then as were watching this thing something shot at it from the ground up idk WTF it was my guess an advanced plasma beam yellowish orange in a defined line with amazing speed. My wife thinks it was some kinda gas weapon.
They missed it then the craft slowly left and this crazy rush of fear and excitement was over nucking futts!
I believed we saw our space military at work maybe? On the other hand I felt like we weren’t supposed to see this battle.
All was good after just warped my mind trying to grasp what we saw!
No the men in black never showed up thank God!
If you’ve seen anything relating to this event please let us know!
Haven’t seen anything like it since other than drones heading to space .
Portland Oregon
Thanks for reading!
True story please don’t ridicule or give opinions that are degrading.
I counted 23 last night during a five-minute span in Northwest Mendocino County, around 10:00 p.m. Horizontal line just like the video.
I saw 18 of them on July 4th 2020 in Palm Bay FL coming from the direction of the Melbourne International Airport. My children and I were fascinated!
We saw the SpaceX tonight, April 30, 2022 about 11:15. Had no idea such a thing excisted!