Residents Believe Eerie Lights Across Melbourne Sky Were UFOs

What was the source of the mysterious spaceship-like object that loomed over Melbourne skies early Tuesday morning? As flashing lights streaked through the sky, observers scratched their heads as they were unsure about what they saw.

"I saw the lights up in the sky and then another one came, then another one came, then another one came, and I was like, 'what the hell's going on here?'" Matt, a resident of Melbourne told 9News.

"So I walked out to the front of my house, and I looked back to where they were coming from, and there was a whole string of them, it looked like someone had unraveled Christmas lights and put them in the sky."

Are these spaceship-like objects floating around Melbourne the work of aliens? It seems that this is not the case. This is due to SpaceX Starlink satellites.

In recent years, people have been claiming UFO sightings after Elon Musk's SpaceX program successfully launched the satellites in Australia. It's a project aimed at making the internet more available in rural regions.

ABC News said that Starlink's trial version is now available in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales. It is likely to expand its services across the country in the coming months.

Starlink can only offer internet access to "low and remote density areas" under the terms of a five-year license issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in January 2021. This is for the entire region of Australia – except for Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.

Each satellite, also known as "flying saucer," is about a table's size.

Perry Vlahos from the Astronomical Society of Victoria told 9News that Starlink satellites are even smaller than the size of International Space Station. However, there are so many of them that they cause extra problems for astronomers.

SpaceX satellites, according to Vlahos, degrade night sky photography and contribute to light pollution. Hence astronomers refer to them as "sky vermin." Atmospheric drag, according to Vlahos, will cause them to re-enter the atmosphere in a few years, where they will burn up harmlessly in the upper atmosphere.

SpaceX is expected to launch about a total of 30,000 satellites into the atmosphere when Starlink's project is over. Elon Musk's company has already launched more than 1,200 Starlink satellites since 2019.

The satellites were expected to appear again early Wednesday morning in Melbourne.