Fresno residents were worried about a possible explosion in the California city after a mysterious ‘cloud like figure’ was seen in the sky on Monday. However, this was not due to any blast but rather a rocket launch.
Though the situation became clear eventually, many posted visuals of the sky wondering what was going on. “Mysterious cloud like figure appears in sky! Spectators claim it was a NASA rocket. What do you think?,” one asked on Facebook.
Several such videos were posted on the Fresno Reddit forum as well. “Starlink Launch April 6 pt 2,” one person wrote, sharing photos.
Another added a video, saying “Starlink Vandenberg SFB Launch, April 6.” The person added “Fantastic time for a launch, it ended up looking amazing.”
Prior to this a person had wondered what was exactly in the sky. “What’s in the sky? Anyone see this in the sky toward the south? Any ideas what it is?,” they asked sharing a photo where a white wisp was visible.
{{/usCountry}}Prior to this a person had wondered what was exactly in the sky. “What’s in the sky? Anyone see this in the sky toward the south? Any ideas what it is?,” they asked sharing a photo where a white wisp was visible.
{{/usCountry}}While people online began to understand that the smoke was related to a rocket launch, many wondered why it was visible from Fresno specifically on Monday, given the large distance from the launch site.
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Kris Kuyper, with the national weather desk at local channel KMPH Fox 26 posted an explanation for the same.
Why Fresno saw smoke from rocket launch?
Kuyper explained that the rocket launch was visible due to a couple of factors – the size of the rocket and the timing of the launch. He reasoned that this was why many of the launches were not as visible from Fresno but this one was.
“Rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base Monday evening was VERY visible from Fresno! Why was this one so visible, but others are not? 2 reasons,” he wrote.
The reported added, “1. It has to be a bigger rocket. Tonight’s was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Not huge like the NASA Artemis, but big enough. 2. Main reason is the TIME. For Fresno to be able to see a launch from that far away, it has to launch close to sunset, so our skies are getting dark, but the setting sun to the west (where Vandenberg SFB is… to our south west) can still light up the exhaust trail.”
Meanwhile, those who saw the incident shared their experiences. One person wrote on Reddit “It started like a rocket but moving upward but then there was a puff of smoke and it looked like pieces were falling.” Another added “Saw it from Clovis.” Clovis is about 197 miles away from the launch site.