Jess Battison
An astronomer was left baffled as a ‘UFO’ was caught flying across the moon.
Usually the stories of alien-like sightings in the sky come from random civilians in their back gardens. Or from people who claim to have had an encounter when they were kids.
And you know, each to their own and all that. But this time it’s someone who specialises in scientific photography – Dr Sebastian Voltmer.
He was filming the moon's surface on 16 March with incredible clarity when a ‘fast bright object’ passed in front.
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The astrophotographer shared several snaps and clips of the sighting to Instagram, using his C11 telescope.
And despite carrying out checks and not necessarily being a big UFO-obsessed guy, Voltmer can’t explain what he caught on camera.
He said: “While I was filming the moon, I suddenly saw a fast, bright something darting through the image.”
At first glance, the photographer reckoned it must have just been a satellite or space station. But he noted that they don’t usually shoot past the moon at such a high speed.
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Many in the comments of the video suggested it was a meteor - but that’s been counteracted as it’s missing the distinctive tail and is a different speed.
Plus grewi.de reports that the International Meteor Organisation did not have any records of a shooting star at the time this was filmed.
Voltmer also reckons it can’t have just been a fly or dirt floating near the lens of his telescope. Based on the plane of focus, he notes that whatever the object is must have been over 500 metres away.
He told BILD: “I actually assume that it was at an altitude of 100 to 200 kilometers, i.e. in the transition to the so-called Low Earth Orbit."
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And planetary scientist, Iliot Sefton-Nash added: “The object looks like a series of low-Earth orbit satellites with orbits close together.”
The expert thinks they could be Starlink satellites, adding: “As far as we know, Starlink orbits are often phased, so groups of them pass in quick succession.”
It’s hard to clearly make out the object in stills of the clip, as it was travelling so quickly.
One user wrote on Instagram: “With all the UFO sightings lately I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a UFO.”
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But others suggested ideas like ‘space debris’ or a ‘satellite’.
And one just joked: “That’s the golf ball I hit at top golf.” Well, we can probably rule that one out.