CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A string of bright lights flew across the sky over the region Friday evening according to numerous reports from area viewers who called or messaged WOWK to see what this may be.
Having seen this same look several times before and using a quick check of Internet search sites, the StormTracker 13 meteorologists believe this is the new Starlink satellite constellation recently lauched by SpaceX. The video below is from Heather Ward and Brianna Craig after 7 p.m. in the Culloden area.
Jerry Carter, a former 13 News viewer who now lives in North Carolina, also saw the lights at the same time under clear skies and much lower on the horizon.
On Thursday night, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 48 Starlink satellites and two BlackSky spacecraft to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. You can watch a replay here:
The Starlink satellite system flies around the Earth and is designed to provided high-speed broadband Internet across the globe from space. The group of small satellites would be visible due to sunlight bouncing off of them and reflecting down to Earth. The satellites start out packed together and move apart over time into their new orbit over the course of days to weeks.
A website that tracks the flight of these missions called findstarlink.com, indicates that Starlink would have been overhead in the 13 News area for several minutes, starting at 7:07 p.m. Friday evening which matches with the timing of the reports from viewers.
Some viewers have suggested the lights may be Santa but looking at the calendar, the StormTracker meteorologists think the timing suggests it’s probably SpaceX.