The glowing light seen over the East Coast on Election Night was the exhaust plume from Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket, launched from French Guiana.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

It wasn’t just the election lighting up the night sky on Tuesday — voters from Connecticut to North Carolina were left scratching their heads after spotting a glowing, jellyfish-shaped light drifting high above the horizon.

Reports of the mysterious “UFO” poured in across the East Coast on Election Night, Nov. 4, as people posted photos and videos of the luminous, swirling object. Skywatchers were convinced something otherworldly was unfolding.

Turns out, it was very worldly.

According to Connecticut meteorologist Jack Drake, the eerie glow wasn’t aliens but rather a European rocket launch catching the last rays of sunlight hundreds of kilometers above Earth.

“UFO IDENTIFIED,” Drake wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Several folks caught this glowing ‘space jellyfish’ tonight from CT and NY. No need for tinfoil hats — this launch was the Ariane 6 rocket’s exhaust, still sunlit 300 km up while we’re in darkness.”

Other meteorologists quickly confirmed the ID. NBC Philadelphia’s Justin Godynick posted, “ARIANE 6 Rocket Launch tonight! Sorry, not UFO this time,” while WJAR Chief Meteorologist Mark Searles in Providence said the rocket’s booster exhaust created the “unique swirl” of light reflecting sunlight back to Earth.

Launched around 4 p.m. EST from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, the Ariane 6 carried the Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite into orbit for the European Space Agency. 

The 54-meter-tall rocket — powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen — flew a northbound path, briefly catching sunlight while much of the East Coast was in twilight, giving it its surreal, glowing appearance, according to NASA Spaceflight.

It was the third commercial flight for the Ariane 6 series, and, judging by social media, one of its most widely watched.