Case file · Sighting
Khartoum sky object
In January 2018 a bright object over Khartoum puzzled Sudan's military, which said it could not identify it and suggested a satellite.
2018 CE · 15.50, 32.56 · status: disputed
The account
A Sudanese scientist proposed the failed secret US satellite Zuma, launched days earlier. Videos spread widely on Arab social media.
The sceptical view
Re-entering hardware or a rocket's fuel dump is the most likely explanation.
The researched reading
Almost certainly the Zuma mission’s rocket stage dumping fuel over East Africa, a spectacle that often triggers UFO reports.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 50% | The Falcon 9 upper stage from the Zuma launch made its de-orbit burn and fuel dump over East Africa around 8 January 2018. Satellite trackers matched the timing to photos of a bright, spreading light near Khartoum. |
| Undetermined | 30% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 5% | A bright fireball is possible, but fuel-dump clouds look and behave differently from meteors. |
| Secret human technology | 5% | Zuma was a secret payload, so the event involved classified hardware, though seen in an ordinary way. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 3% | Unfamiliar rocket-plume shapes are often described as craft. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 3% | Some videos shared on social media may have been from other events. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | Not needed. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | A strong timing match to a rocket stage exists. |
Official position: Sudan’s military said it could not identify the object and suggested a satellite.