A Giant ‘Jellyfish’ Spreads Across Western Canada’s Night Sky

What happened

CBC’s Andrew Kurjata reported on 6 May 2026 that residents across BC “were left scratching their heads between about 10:15 and 10:30 p.m.” on Tuesday 5 May. They had seen a large white shape spreading across the sky. “Guesses as to what it was range from a weather balloon to a SpaceX rocket to something a little more out of this world.”

The footage

• Who filmed it: Residents, posting phone video to community Facebook groups “from Williams Lake to Prince George to Fort St. James,” per CBC. Individual uploaders are not named here.
• Key clip: A Prince George resident’s phone video, published as screen captures by The Weather Network with labels by meteorologist Scott Sutherland. It shows the blob “moving from north to south.” It “appeared to be following along below a small point of light, and was accompanied by a wispy patch of haze or vapour, all of which were moving at the same speed.”
• Other clips: A driver who pulled over near New Aiyansh told CBC, “I thought it was the moon.” A Hixon witness called it “super weird.”
• What is missing: Clip lengths and original files are not published. Watch at CBC News.

Timeline

• 9 December 2009: The “Norway spiral” over northern Norway is traced to a failed Russian Bulava missile test.
• 22 December 2017: A Falcon 9 Iridium launch from Vandenberg lights up Southern California’s twilight sky.
• 18 January 2023: A Subaru-Asahi camera on Mauna Kea records a spiral after a SpaceX GPS launch.
• 15–16 April 2023: A Falcon 9 fuel-dump spiral is seen over Alaska.
• 5 May 2026, 8:59:19 pm PDT: Starlink 17-29 lifts off from SLC-4E at Vandenberg on booster B1081 and heads south-southwest (Spaceflight Now).
• 5 May 2026, about 10:15–10:30 pm PDT: The glowing blob is seen over BC.
• 6 May 2026: CBC and The Weather Network report.

What witnesses reported

Witnesses described a slow, silent, glowing cloud-like shape crossing the sky with a point of light. Many enjoyed the speculation. One Vanderhoof resident told CBC: “I think it brings out this really playful part of people to just talk about things they wouldn’t even believe in.”

What the research found

The launch is documented. Spaceflight Now reports liftoff “at 8:59:19 p.m. PDT,” with all 24 Starlink satellites deployed. The Falcon 9 “flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory.” SpaceX’s mission page lists the flight as Starlink 17-29.