Radio stations were flooded with calls on Sunday Evening the 18th of October 2009 with people reporting they had seen a unidentified flying object (UFO) in the sky, it has also been referred to as a Bubbling UFO or Spacecraft too. Actually according to reports from official sources what was seen in the night skies over South Africa on Sunday was a Centaur Rocket dumping excess propellant as some form of testing from the rocket manufacturer. Some experts who have seen fuel dumping excercises dispute this as the answer to exactly what “test” were being performed while over South Africa.

The strange craft which fleeted across South Africa's night skies on Sunday the 18th of October 2009. Most people in South Africa thought they had seen a UFO but this object turned out to be a Centaur rocket dumping excess propellant. From Mitchell Krog's Astrophotography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

The Centaur rocket was launched from VanderBergh Airforce base in California earlier that day with a payload of a US military weather satellite named DMSP F-18. When the rocket and satellite were over South African skies they apparently dumped excess fuel which resulted in large halos surrounding the two objects which were a short distance from each other. Later in the evening when they were over Europe they dumped the rest of the fuel which also caused a minor sensation in Europe.

South African photographer Mitchell Krog was out and about shooting a lightning storm and happened to notice this anomoly in the sky and captured some superb images of the event. He explains his story.

A scene from a sci-fi movie? What many South Africans and Europeans thought was a UFO on Sunday the 18th of October turned out to be a testing phase of a Centaur rocket launched earlier that day from VanDerBergh Airforce base in California. From Mitchell Krog's Astrophotography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

“I was out chasing a lightning storm which circulated through our area, at around 8:47pm I noticed a strange shape in the sky, at first I thought it was some cloud formation but quickly ruled that out and immediately swung my camera around and started cpaturing images of this object in the sky. It started off relatively small and as it moved across the sky the rings grew in size. I photographed from 8:48 to 8:52 and by then it was too faint and almost out of sight. I knew I had captured something unusual because I have spent my entire life watching the night skies and the last 4 years photographing them. Deep down inside me I kinda hoped it was a UFO but I have learned in life not to jump to conclusions and rather investigate before causing sensationalism as the mass media always does. On Monday morning I sent my images off to a number of astronomy friends of mine and quite quickly got a reply about the Centaur Rocket. Some people who have been in contact with me since yesterday are still questioning exactly what “tests” were being done up there and they have contacted the owners of that rocket who said they will be giving a press release. As soon as I hear anything I will update this info but for now the mass consensus is the centaur rocket dumping fuel. This is certainly not something you see every day in the night skies and as a photographer I had one minute to decide what settings  I would use and 4 minutes to shoot it, I did not even have a moment to scratch my head. It was a great thing to witness and even more rewarding to come home with images.”

"The mothership is watching us". What many would love to believe was a UFO turns out to be something actually from this world. A centaur rocket is captured dumping excess propellant into the atmosphere as part of a testing phase of this rocket launch. From Mitchell Krog's Astrophotography Portfolio. (Copyright Mitchell Krog - All Rights Reserved)

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