The spiral and blue beam from the center, after growing for nearly two minutes, suddenly "opened". A darkness overtook the glowing white spiral, and what was left was an eerie blue glow hovering over the horizon.
To the untrained observer, images such as the ones above and below would lead one to believe that a UFO had been spotted, or that some earth or space based laser beam had opened a wormhole. Some Internet comments even suggested "next time fly a plane through it and see what happens".
As interesting as this 'phenomenon' is, it will be impossible to fly a plane through as it occurs high above the earth's atmosphere. It is no wormhole, no mystical force opening a chasm between two worlds... what we see in the pictures is a failed rocket launch.
At some point this morning a launch occurred - most likely a Russian submarine launch from the northern sea... unless Norway has a super-secret launch facility in the north. At some point during the ascent, the rocket began experiencing control issues causing a spiral. Once the rocket reached the upper atmosphere the spiral plume held it's shape and continued outward by the force of the thrust. The sudden black hole opening was simply the rocket detonating above the atmosphere, the expansive force of the explosion moved faster than the thruster particles. What remained in the atmosphere was spent propellant reflecting light from the rising sun.
Why am I so certain? Experience, dear reader... It's what I do in the real world...
Also, below are two pictures. One is from this mysterious event, the other is from a scheduled morning launch of a known rocket. Notice the similarities in the clouds near the horizon - typical rocket plumage.
The only question now is WHO was launching WHAT?
Videos of the account are here:
