“Is it a UFO?“ An unusual object in the sky was spotted in several regions of Kazakhstan at once
What Kazakhstanis captured on camera
A reader contacted our WhatsApp editorial line. The footage shows a bright object with a long, luminous trail moving across the evening sky.
"My friend and I filmed something looking like a comet falling from the sky in Kaskelen at around 6:30–6:40 PM. Could you tell us what it was? Is it a UFO?" the author of the video asked.
A similar phenomenon was observed that same evening in East Kazakhstan. A local resident filmed the unusual object in the sky over the Katon-Karagay National Park.
"Katon-Karagay: what is that flying in the sky? We're sitting by the campfire at Yasnaya Polyana, looked up, and saw this," the author noted.
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A post shared by Divyatour-Autotours in EKO-Your guide Marina (@marina.shirokih)
Was it actually a comet?
Photographer Dmitry Dotsenko managed to capture similar footage, but from Almaty. According to him, the object visible in the sky was the Progress MS-35 spacecraft.
"A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome this evening. This was a rare opportunity for Almaty residents to see a space launch with their own eyes—it’s hard to believe, as the straight-line distance to Baikonur is over 1,000 kilometers!" he noted.
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A post shared by Dmitry Dotsenko / Almaty Photographer (@dots_foto)
The photographer explained that this jellyfish-like phenomenon is caused by exhaust gases combined with several fortunate circumstances.
"Thanks to the perfect launch time—right after sunset—I managed to capture the so-called 'space jellyfish.' This phenomenon occurs when rocket exhaust gases at high altitudes are illuminated by the sun's rays after it has already dipped below the horizon. While it has long been dark on the ground, it is still daylight at an altitude of hundreds of kilometers," the photographer shared.
To get the perfect shot, Dmitry calculated his position in advance so the rocket would pass directly behind the Kok-Tobe TV Tower, a symbol of Almaty.
The scientific explanation
The Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute confirmed that the unusual glow was indeed related to the rocket launch.
Institute specialists observed the flight from their observatory. According to Svetlana Moshkina, the launch took place at 6:34 PM.
"The launch started at 18:34. The horizon was still bright, so the rocket barely stood out against the fading sunset," Svetlana Moshkina noted.