New theory behind mysterious object in night sky over Philadelphia

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The Brief

A bright object was spotted in the night sky above the Philadelphia area earlier this week.

While some speculated that it was a visitor from far, far way, experts claimed that it was likely a U.S. rocket launch on a secret military mission.

Others now believe the glowing dot surrounded by a swirling mist was a European rocket.

PHILADELPHIA - The mystery continues about a bright, swirling object spotted in the night sky over Philadelphia earlier this week!

While experts believe it was likely a rocket launch – not visitors from another galaxy – there is some debate about just whose rocket it was.

What we know

A bright orb surrounded by a faint, glowing mist was spotted over the Philadelphia area on Tuesday night.

FOX 29 News viewers from Glenside to the Jersey shore submitted videos and photos of the mysterious orb throughout the night.

Experts threw cold water on conspiracy theories about the origins of the object, saying that it was likely from a rocket launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

NASA scientist Dr. Donald Miller joined Good Day Philadelphia and called the swirling mist that surrounded the object a "classic rocket plume."

"When rockets go up, they have to do attitude adjustments, so you're seeing that spiral as they're actually adjusting their orbit around our planet," Dr. Miller said.

Experts at the popular astronomy website Earth Sky now assert that the object was likely connected to Europe's "Ariane Six" rocket launched from South America.

What they're saying

Whether the rocket was from the U.S. or Europe, some mystery still surrounds the spacecraft's mission.

Dr. Miller explained that the rocket was seen going into "geostationary orbit" as it prepared to launch two military satellites. One of the satellites is being sent on a secret military mission and the other is being used to strengthen the country's GPS systems.

Many who spotted the object late at night believed it couldn't be the rocket launched from Florida's east coast around 8 p.m. Dr. Miller explained that the rocket mission reached several stages as it ascended through the atmosphere and traveled a tenth of the way to the moon.