AUSTIN (KXAN) — Reports of mysterious lights over Austin happen fairly regularly and Elon Musk is to blame. Starlink, one of the billionaire’s pet projects, aims to bring internet to rural parts of the world which can cause a stir with stargazers.
It’s causing a spike in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
“With Starlink and other phenomenon up there in the night sky,” said Michael Endl, a professor of astronomy and physics at Austin Community College. “You see more and more stuff that that you can’t explain right away.”
SpaceX has launched more than 6,000 of the tiny satellites into the sky. Unlike other satellites, they appear unusual. While in flight, they form a string of tiny lights, while shortly after launch they look like a cigar or bowtie of light.
“When Starlink are first deployed out of the spacecraft they’re very close. So they look like one object, they don’t look like a string of several objects,” said Alejandro Rojas, a UFO researcher who works with Enigma Labs, a new app that aims to crowdsource UFO/UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) reports.
UFO location app
The Enigma Labs app allows users to upload a photo of the object, description and location data. The purpose of this app is to provide data on UFOs to the government.
“One of the things that we’ve heard from the Pentagon and from NASA is that a lot of the issue with this topic is there’s not enough data. So that’s exactly what we’re trying to do is gather more data,” Rojas said.
The company examines reports and then rules out things like Starlink that have an explanation.
“Once you can’t rule things out, that’s when you have something anomalous that either deserves more research, or can point you in a direction,” Rojas said.
Rojas said that many reports in the Austin-area can be attributed to Starlink, but also balloons and nearby rocket launches.
“People who report them, they get a little disappointed because they really think they’ve gotten something anomalous. But for researchers it’s really exciting because then we can rule those out and pay more attention to the truly anomalous sightings,” Rojas said.
Rojas shared with NewsNation affiliate KXAN several reports of UFOs that drew his attention:
- This report from 2023 showed a “tic-tac” shaped UFO.
- A December 2023 spotted a “weightless” object over the area.
- The 2024 eclipse brought an interesting sight just moments before totality.
Robert Sheaffer, one of the world’s leading UFO skeptics, told KXAN he has known Rojas for years, calling him a “straight shooter” who doesn’t make stuff up when it comes to UFO reports.
However, Shaeffer has his doubts about Enigma Labs’ app.
“Since we know that the vast majority of reported UFO sightings are readily explained, and hence of no scientific value, this app encourages the reporting and sharing of low-quality UFO sightings, thus muddying the waters. It promotes the idea that seeing a UFO is something that the average person can expect to experience, but even if you don’t see anything, send us a photo of the sky, anyway!”
Endl says that the app is not necessarily a bad thing. “The more observations, the more evidence comes in, the better for whatever you are investigating,” Endl said.
Seeing Starlink in the night sky
While seeing a UFO is never a guarantee, Starlink is closer to one. Multiple websites are out there for tracking the satellite “constellation” as it orbits the planet.
FindStarlink.com provides up-to-the minute updates on visibility. You can locate best viewing opportunities by inputting your location. It can tell you which days to look up and which days it is best to avoid the effort.
James Darpinian’s Starlink project provides a birds-eye-view of the satellites. It allows you to track where all satellites are while they orbit the Earth, while also providing maps.
Last month, Starlink launches were put on hold after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded mid-launch. Several of the satellites fell to the ground in the aftermath, burning up in the atmosphere.