欧州の空に渦巻き模様　正体はスペースＸのロケット燃料

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】欧州各地の空に２４日夜、鮮やかな青と白の渦巻き模様が出現した。気象や宇宙の専門家は、実業家イーロン・マスク氏傘下の宇宙開発企業、スペースＸのファルコン９ロケットから放出された燃料がつくり出した現象だとしている。（写真は、スウェーデン・ウプサラ県南部で撮影された、青と白の渦巻き模様）
　「パニックにならないで！ＵＦＯではなく、スペースＸのファルコン９ロケットからのガス放出です」と、仏気象庁中部・ロワール渓谷気象台はＳＮＳに投稿した。
　渦巻きの写真は、スウェーデン、ポーランド、ハンガリー、クロアチアなど各国でもＳＮＳに投稿された。
　英レディング大学の惑星科学者、ジェームズ・オドノヒュ氏ーもＡＦＰに対し、ファルコン９ロケットの発射後、上空で切り離された１段目が落下する際に放出した残りの燃料が渦巻きの正体だと説明した。
　放出された燃料は凍結して結晶となり、太陽光を受けて明るい渦巻き模様を空に描いたという。「渦の形となったのは、燃料放出時にロケットが回転したいことが原因」としている。
　仏コートダジュール天文台の天体物理学者エリック・ラガデック氏はＳＮＳ「ブルースカイ」に、ポーランドで撮影されたとみられる動画をリポストし、マスク氏が踊るアニメと共に、「この男は地上でも空でも物事をかき乱すのが好きな気がする！」と書き添えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/26-16:54）

A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe late Monday was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists.
The UK's Met Office said on X it had received many reports of an illuminated swirl in the sky on Monday evening likely caused by a rocket that had blasted off earlier from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Don't panic! No, it wasn't a UFO but the degassing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, said the French state weather forecaster Meteo France in the country's central Loire Valley.
Pictures of the vivid swirl were also posted by social media users in countries including Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Croatia.
People across Europe may have had the chance to see the phenomenon -- as long as it was not obscured by clouds, planetary scientist James O'Donoghue of the UK's University of Reading told AFP.
The spiral was created after the rocket's first-stage booster, which blasted it off the ground, separated and the upper stage took over, he said.
As the booster fell back to Earth, it vented leftover fuel, which froze into reflective crystals.
These crystals caught the sunlight, creating the bright spiral pattern in the sky, O'Donoghue said.
The spiral shape happened because the tumbling rocket was spinning as it released the fuel.
- Spy satellite? -
The swirl was created by the launch of SpaceX's NROL-69 mission. Exactly what it was carrying into space was classified.
But the mission was conducted for the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the US military's spy satellites.
The Falcon 9 reusable rocket booster returned safely to Landing Zone 1 after delivering the national security payload to orbit, the office said in a statement.
A similar spiral was spotted above New Zealand in 2022, also from the workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, according to reports at the time.
The venting of the gas that creates these spirals is not dangerous, O'Donoghue said. It can happen to other rockets, but the sheer number of Falcon 9 launches makes it a likely suspect.
The timing of this launch -- during the European twilight -- as well as the season, cloud cover and other factors affect whether people on the ground can see such spirals, O'Donoghue said.
Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has taken a fail fast, learn fast approach that has helped it become the world's dominant launch services provider.
The company's massive Starship rocket exploded during its latest test flight this month, with social media footage showing red-hot debris raining down over the Bahamas.
Musk's status as one of President Donald Trump's closest advisors, and his influence over federal regulators, have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Cote d'Azur Observatory in France, reposted a video on the social media platform Bluesky that was apparently taken in Poland of the spiral rising in the sky.
Along with a gif of Musk dancing, Lagadec said: I have a feeling this is a guy who likes to mess things up on Earth and above!