Case file · Sighting
The first Starlink 'train' over the Netherlands
On 24 May 2019, Dutch satellite tracker Marco Langbroek filmed a string of 60 bright points moving in a line over Leiden: the first Starlink satellites, launched a day earlier.
2019 CE · 52.16, 4.50 · status: explained
The account
The video went viral, and 'train of lights' reports to UFO hotlines across Europe surged in the years after as more batches were launched. An AARO paper dated December 2024 explains that Starlink 'trains' form while newly launched satellites climb with their solar panels flat. It notes that more than 6,700 Starlink satellites were in orbit by the end of November 2024 (pp.1, 5).
The sceptical view
Fully explained: freshly launched satellites still close together, catching the sunlight.