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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching at at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. 29 August 2020
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching at at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. 29 August 2020 - Credit: U.S. Space Force photo by Joshua Conti / Wikimedia Commons - License: Public Domain
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Marco Langbroek
Tuesday, 25 March 2025 - 08:01

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Mysterious spiral light in Dutch skies; Not a UFO, but a SpaceX fuel dump

A mysterious spiral-shaped light appeared in the sky above various parts of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Western Europe around 9:00 p.m. on Monday. According to Marco Langbroek, a satellite expert and lecturer at TU Delft, it was a fuel dump by a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX.

UPDATE - De spiraalwolk die vanavond werd gezien was een brandstofdump van een Falcon 9 raket (NROL/69). Tijdens de lancering werd een satelliet uitgezet. Nadat de lading was uitgezet werd er brandstof geloosd. De spiraalvorm wijst erop dat de raket langzaam rond zijn as draaide. pic.twitter.com/1n7VkSRCX6

— Belgisch UFOmeldpunt (@ufomeldpuntbe) March 24, 2025

The Dutch and Belgian UFO hotlines both received dozens of calls, RTL Nieuws reports. But the mystery was soon solved.

The SpaceX rocket was launched earlier in the evening from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It left a trail above Western Europe.

“The strange spiral cloud visible in the sky this Monday evening was a fuel dump from the Falcon 9 rocket that launched an American spy satellite today,” Langbroek said on X. According to him, the fuel dump happened in the second orbit around the earth.

Last month, another Falcon 9 rocket launch caused fireballs to appear in the Dutch skies.

* NROL-69. (typo)

— Dr Marco Langbroek 🇬🇱 🇩🇰 (@Marco_Langbroek) March 24, 2025

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