Case file · Sighting
Norwegian spiral
A blue beam and a vast glowing spiral appeared over northern Norway and Sweden for about ten minutes on 9 December 2009.
2009 CE · 69.65, 18.96 · status: explained
The account
Photographs taken across northern Norway and Sweden went around the world, prompting talk of UFOs or secret experiments; a smaller similar display had been seen the month before.
The sceptical view
Both displays matched failed flights of Russia's Bulava submarine-launched missile, and Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed such a test on 9 December.
The researched reading
A spectacular but solved case: a failed missile spinning out of control in sunlit upper air.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 93% | Russia confirmed a Bulava test from the White Sea that morning; a spinning, failed third stage venting fuel lit by sunlight at altitude produces exactly the spiral and blue beam seen. |
| Secret human technology | 2% | It was a military missile test, announced only after the fact. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 1% | Aurora was ruled out: the shape, colour and motion are wrong. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 1% | No need for an unknown natural process. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 1% | Photographs from many sites agree; perception is not the issue. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | Hundreds of independent photographs rule out a hoax. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Fully explained. |
Official position: Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed a failed Bulava missile test on 9 December 2009.
Connections in the atlas
- 'Space jellyfish' rocket sightings
- ? What are the Hessdalen lights?
- Petrozavodsk phenomenon
- Hessdalen lights