Residents of central- and northern Norway who were up late last week witnessed strange lights in the nighttime skies that were both stunning and scary. Experts tied them to a rocket launch in northwestern Russia that also lit up the skies over Sweden and Finland.
Norwegians from Kristiansund in the south to Nordland and Troms farther north reported seeing a strange light resembling a large shooting star that became bigger and bigger. “Suddenly the heavens were covered by a form of clouds all lit up,” one man in Nordmøre told state broadcaster NRK. “We had no idea what it was.”
He said the lights lasted for around three- to four minutes before disappearing. Others noted how the light had seemed to explode in the sky, which was cloud-free and full of stars.
For photos of the light phenomenon sent in to NRK, click here (external link to NRK, in Norwegian).
Authorities could later report that the Russian defense department had sent out a message that a Soyuz rocket had been shot up from its base in Plesetsk, with Russian news agency Tass reporting that military satellites were on board. The light-show, according to NRK’s space expert Hallvard Sandberg, was tied to the highest stage of the rocket that sent out its cargo into space. The rocket’s exhaust was so high up that it was lit up by the sun, Sandberg said.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
