Unraveling the mystery of the ‘Oklahoma UFO’
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – It’s been over a week since News 4 showed you video of bright lights and what appeared to be a puff of smoke. The mysterious object is still turning heads.
News 4 talked with witnesses, scientists, ad even members of the US Space Force but received answers on what it was not. Now, an aerospace engineer may have unraveled the mystery.
“Is that a UFO? That’s a UFO!” a child can be heard on the video.
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“What is this thing” is a question we are still asking after Steve Aragona saw it on March 4th at 7:29pm.
“I look up and this white thing appeared in the sky,” said Aragona.
It turns out, Aragona wasn’t the only one to see it. News 4 viewers sent in their videos from across the state, to Colorado, and even New Mexico.
“Are you look at what’s in the sky right now?” said Tiffanie Murray on video sent to News 4.
On March 4, Space X launched Starlink satellites from Florida.
Our expert didn’t think the launch matched up with what people saw in the western sky.
“It couldn’t have been that one if they were facing west to see it,” said Wayne Harris-Wyrick, an astronomer.
The mystery, captured the attention of people across the country, including Dr. Thomas Hays. He’s an aerospace engineer in Denver, an OSU alum, and a former OU Professor.
Hays’ Oklahoma family sent him News 4’s story looking for answers.
“It’s just an orbital version of what goes around comes around,” said Hays.
Hays said he believes it actually was Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites, for internet connectivity, which launched at 5:56pm Oklahoma time.
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“Headed out over the ocean and then came back across Oklahoma 90 minutes later,” said Hays.
That would explain why Aragona saw it at 7:29pm looking west.
“So, we were right in that it was not the launch, we just didn’t know that it took 90 minutes to come back around, or even that it Was going to come back around?” News 4 asked Hays.
“Yeah, that’s probably the most likely case.” replied Hays.
The rockets also gave off a divine glow. Hays said that’s because this was right after sunset. Although it was dark on Earth, it’s still in full daylight in space, being illuminated by the sun.
“That’s why it appeared bright enough to see,” said Hays.
Hays said that ring was created by the vehicle using big puffs of gas to move through space.
“If this was SpaceX, they decided to do a an orbital change, whether that’s de-orbit in the second stage booster. So that way it doesn’t create space debris and create a hazard or other launches later on,” said Hays.
On their media line, SpaceX said to email them for answers.
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“As you can imagine, the requests we receive far outweigh our available resources,” it’s voicemail said.
So far, News 4 has emailed SpaceX three times.
On Tuesday, we tried to use the receptionist option. They were not available.
Until News 4 has a definitive answer, Hays said he hopes these events will inspire.
“I would hope that in the circumstance when we see unique things in Oklahoma Sky, that the young Oklahomans might be inspired to go study aerospace, go study and question what that is,” said Hays.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
