Extremely rare weather phenomenon appears in the skies following satellite launch

When was the last time you looked up into the sky and simply couldn’t explain what you were seeing as you witnessed a rare weather phenomenon?

Now, I would hope by now most people can identify that big searingly bright thing in the sky as the sun, and those floating fluffy marshmallows as clouds.

If it was nighttime I would hope you can just as easily identify that big bright white rock in the sky as the moon and the odd twinkling of stars.

But how often do you look outside your window at night and simply ask ‘what the hell is that?’

Well some folks in Florida certainly found themselves in that situation today (July 3) after seeing a beautiful cosmic-esque display in the early morning sky.

Now, to the uninitiated, you simply might chalk it up to being the northern lights or some alien trickery at work, but across Florida people were able to see the rare phenomenon known as noctilucent clouds.

Noctilucent clouds essentially look like a slivery wisp of cloud that is entwined with itself in a white and blue hue. (NWSTampaBay)

They essentially look like a slivery wisp of cloud that entwines with itself in a white and blue hue.

But what actually are they?

Well, according to Weather Authority meteorologist Juliana Mejia, the early morning launch of a Space X satellite on Wednesday caused the spectacle.

These very rare clouds generally form 200,000 ft up in the atmosphere in the Mesosphere and are made up of ice crystals. They shine in the night sky because they reflect sunlight due to their high altitude.

For noctilucent clouds to form they require water vapor, dust and very low temperatures, according to the U.K. Met Office.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 launched Wednesday at 4:55 a.m. with the latest batch of Starlink satellites.

Just over eight minutes into the flight, the first stage Falcon 9 booster made a visible, controlled landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship out on the Atlantic Ocean. The landing trail, which is rarely seen from droneship landings, was illuminated by sunlight just under the horizon for over an hour.

Meteorologist Juliana Mejia the early morning launch of a Space X satellite on Wednesday caused the spectacle. (Getty Stock Image)

Those lucky/or unlucky enough to be up this early praised the display of the clouds with many taking to social media to share their thoughts and photos.

“Caught the view from my backyard. It was beautiful,” one user wrote on X.

“Beautiful streak shots & #Falcon9 noctilucent clouds over the spacecoast near sunrise,” commented another.

“SpaceX rocket launch. Launch was late but that means more Rocket Noctilucent Clouds!” a third wrote.

“NOCTILUCENT clouds over Tampa Bay after the launch of a SpaceX rocket. It is really beautiful (in its own way),” another added.

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