2024-07-11 03:27:11
On Tuesday evening, the European carrier rocket “Ariane 6” took off on its maiden flight. Shortly afterwards, a celestial phenomenon was reported throughout Germany. Is there a connection?
The UFO reporting center “Cenap” (Central Research Network for Unusual Celestial Phenomena) in southern Germany received an unusually high number of reports about a celestial phenomenon on Tuesday evening. The research group wrote this on its website. More than 40 calls and emails were received in a short space of time – some with photos and videos.
The images show a white dot accompanied by white stripes on the sides – in terms of color, these are similar to the condensation trails that commercial aircraft sometimes leave behind.
But what can actually be seen in the images? Cenap suspects that they could be parts of the new European launch vehicle “Ariane 6”. “An upper stage burn-up of the ESA Ariane6 rocket test flight that started hours ago triggered a great deal of speculation in Germany,” it says.
Video | Launch vehicle “Ariane 6” successfully launched into space
Astra YouTuber and space law expert Tim Ruster also suspects that the object observed in the sky could have been parts of the “Ariane 6”. What was seen there “is very likely the Ariane 6,” said Ruster in a video on the short message service X.
It is likely that the rocket’s boosters returned to Earth, rotating and burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere, Ruster said.
The rocket boosters, also called the first stage, are separated from the rocket a few minutes after launch. Unlike SpaceX’s reusable rockets, the boosters of the “Ariane 6” do not automatically land on Earth, but mostly burn up.
It is not unlikely that these could have been parts of the “Ariane 6”. Although the European Space Agency (ESA) had stressed that the launch of the rocket would most likely not be visible from Germany, this was not ruled out.
t-online asked ESA. They initially said that the case was being investigated. As soon as the authority responds, this article will be updated.
The “Ariane 6” was launched into space on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m., four years late, on its maiden flight from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. On its way, it flew over Great Britain, ESA announced.